Adirondack Ledge
Artist
Alexander Helwig Wyant
(American, 1836 - 1892)
Date1884
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsFramed: 55 3/4 x 46 1/4 x 5 1/2in. (141.6 x 117.5 x 14cm)
Overall: 43 1/4 x 33 1/2in. (109.9 x 85.1cm)
Overall: 43 1/4 x 33 1/2in. (109.9 x 85.1cm)
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Terms
Object number64.146
Description On View
Not on viewCollections
CopyrightNo known copyright restrictions.
Label TextThe elaborate decoration on the frame that surrounds Wyant's painting, comprised of leaf, flower, and acanthus motifs, and 18th century ornamental devices, suggests that it was made during the decade of the 1880s, contemporaneous with the painting it surrounds. What is less certain, however, is whether the finish that is now on the frame dates from the same time period, or whether this finish was added sometime during the 20th century.
The two most unusual aspects of this frame are the crusty deposits that were randomly applied over its surface, and the layer of tan, black, and brown paint that was applied over most of its originally gilded surface. There is precedence for this latter decorative practice among the French Impressionists, who reused 18th century frames after stripping off the gilding, or painting over it.1 When the Wyant frame was refinished, care was taken to allow small sections of the molded ornament to remain uncovered, creating a surface that echoes the grays, yellows, and browns of Wyant's paint surface. Whereas frames typically rely on molding shape, ornament, and gilding to enhance the pictures they surround, the surface of this frame is an unusual but nevertheless effective departure from that practice in its use of texture and color to enhance the aesthetic experience of the painting.
Just when this frame was finished in this fashion is not clear. The picture was probably exhibited publicly for the first time at the Macbeth Gallery in New York City in 1904, twelve years after Wyant's death. It was sold to a private collector shortly thereafter and was owned by several other dealers and collectors before it was acquired by the Museum in the 1960s. It is certainly plausible that the frame's present surface was added during any of the instances when the picture changed hands.
Note
1. Matthias Waschek, "Camille Pissarro: From Impressionist Frame to Decorative Object," in Eva Mendgen, In Perfect Harmony: Picture and Frame, 1850-1920 (Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum, 1995), pp. 146-47.
PDS
August 2010
