1985.R.324, Oval gilted frame, c. 1675

The picture frame is now so ubiquitous that one forgets that, like all familiar forms, it was an invention. Although frames were originally conceived to protect the picture physically and enhance it aesthetically, their invention led gradually to the creation of a separate type of craft associated more often with furniture making than with the creation of pictures themselves.

Baroque exuberance abounds in the massing of leaves and flowers carved in high relief on this frame.

Until 1985: Emery Reves (1904-1983) and Wendy Reves (1916-2007) (owned jointly), La Pausa, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France [1]

From 1985: Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection, gift of Wendy Reves (1916-2007) [1]

[1] According to: Olivier Meslay and Martha MacLeod, From Chanel to Reves (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 2015), 4-5.

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