Why does the frame cost more than the picture?
This is a good question, and one often asked by many clients. In the early days we found it a difficult question to answer and because of that we did some research, which began by talking with some contacts in the framing department we have in the National Gallery (link?) Down in London’s Trafalgar Square. They told us that many of the frames around the various masterpieces are works of art in themselves and often cost the same or even more than the masterpieces within.
Please see the link below for an example of two masterpieces…The author travelled to Florence to see this in person. It’s always good to have one’s breath taken away. The frame is as priceless as the work within.
https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/holy-family-known-as-the-doni-tondo
Hundreds of years on the same often remains true today. When we go through a consultation with a client in our Soho workshop and hear the refrain “I only paid x amount. I can’t justify spending more on the frame,” we need to first separate the two elements, artwork and frame, from each other. They are of course entirely different things at this point as the actual picture frame is not directly related to that particular art piece. It is an object of its own with its own properties and individual beauty. This rings true if the frame has a simple rectangular profile shape or is an exquisitely carved piece. The simple 20 x 30 profile can be as sleek and elegant and beautiful to touch as any piece of fine furniture. The custom carved frame (link to custom carved frames page) could be a work of art on its own. Each has its own value depending on the types of materials employed (timber, gold, brass, as well as finishing products like stains varnishes and paints (of which there are some that are in themselves technically marvellous – paints like pure ultramarine, chrome, liquid brass, et cetera). Then there are the technical skills and labour required to mix all the ingredients together so we can end up with the finished picture frame. It is then that these two elements, artwork and frame, can finally approach each other with a view to spending the rest of their lives together. It is at that point that we hear the question “why does the frame cost more than the picture?” And we point clients towards this blog! Well, we don’t. We accept, and we explain. And we always offer options to lower costs and find solutions to try to cater to every budget, but the principle remains the same, even for the most cost-effective framing solutions.
For those of you who would like to find out a little more about the world of picture frames its worth clicking on the link below
https://www.burlington.org.uk/archive/article/framing-in-museums
We think you’ll find it interesting to know about the actual business of picture frames, the craft houses that made and still make them (we like to think that follow in the tradition of one of those in some way), the dealers, the scouts who search for antique frames and new makers to replicate them, the auction houses who sometimes sell them, and the skilled women and men who still design and create artisanal picture frames, often spending months and years to perfect a design idea, turning it from a sketch into a real physical thing, a work of (modern?) art in its own right. So yes, why is the framing more expensive than the picture? Because they are not the same, but instead a marriage. Together they can become more valuable than the sum of their parts. And that’s as well as serving a practical purpose by transporting an artwork onto a wall, and an aesthetic one by showcasing the artwork to its best ability.
Let’s us all remind ourselves that everyone here at SohoFrames treats every artwork as priceless regardless of its monetary value, and that the artworks we see have monetary values starting from next-to-nothing to seven figures. We still have a few frames or our own on our workshop walls. Several are of dogs. We printed the photos ourselves, but they do not have any “value” in terms of dollars pounds euros et cetera. There is no secondary market for a picture of “Wolfie,” “Bob” and “Moose” much as the author of this blog loved and loves them. The author’s own pictures are in the next-to-nothing category. With that established there is no way we can find or make a frame for less than the value of “Wolfie.” The money spent was the cost of moving a beloved hound from the phone onto the wall so he would never be forgotten.