"Hassam-style" period frame

ca. 1920

Not on view

This so-called "Hassam-style" frame by the early-20th-century Royal Art Framing Company (RAFC) refers to the Arts and Crafts moldings favored by the American Impressionist painter, Childe Hassam. Following the example set by the pioneering American expatriate James McNeill Whistler, Hassam took a great interest in the framed setting of his canvases. In the early 1920s, he commissioned a number of different frames from RAFC, including designs with his "H" initial (one example is in the Met’s collection). The proposed gift also looks to be an original "artist frame," based on the patterns of paint residue found on the verso. Green, gray, and chalky-white washes appear over the gilding, suggesting that it was custom-colored and intended to harmonize with a particular painter’s palette.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Title: "Hassam-style" period frame
Maker: Royal Art Framing Company, Inc. (New York, early 20th century)
Date: ca. 1920
Geography: Made in New York, New York, United States
Culture: American
Medium: gilded milled and carved wood with polychrome patina
Dimensions: 33 11/16 × 27 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (85.6 × 70.5 × 3.8 cm)
Rabbet: 24 3/8 × 18 7/16 in. (61.9 × 46.8 cm)
Sight: 23 1/2 × 17 5/8 in. (59.7 × 44.8 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Jack Soultanian, 2016
Object Number: 2016.705
Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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