John Singer Sargent was recognized as the most acclaimed international portrait artist of his time and today is firmly in the canons of art history. His self-portrait of 1892, that he submitted to the National Academy of Design for entry into the esteemed institution, was judged by his peers for acceptance as a member. When the painting was brought to us for the purpose of placing Optium Tru-vue museum acrylic into the frame for protection, it was in a narrow, modern version of an Italian 16th frame. Sargent preferred to use period frames whenever he could find them. From our collection of authentic period frames we had a late 16th century carved and gilded Italian frame that was appropriate for the self-portrait; it is in keeping with his aesthetics, and the quality and scale to present a portrait of this significance.
The frame is Italian (Piemonte region), end of the 16th century; carved and gilded decorated with a ribbon twist outer border enclosing a cushion molding decorated at the centers and corners with a punched background to the gold leaf scroll trails and a stylized sight edge. The ribbon twist outer border and husk sight edge are carved. The leaf scrolls in the corners and centers are pastiglia, usually piped from a pouch with a quill as a tip squeezing gesso through the opening. As the gesso dried the edges become soft and rounded. A red bole is under the gold. The punched background of the leaf scrolls is made by pressing a tool with a flat rounded tip into the gold, a delicate process to keep the gold leaf from breaking.
The frame is constructed with mitered joins with spline insert.
The frame was slightly larger than the painting and rather than alter the frame from its original state, a wood toned liner was used to fit the frame around the painting perfectly.
An example of this type of frame is in Repertorio Della Cornice Europea by Roberto Lodi and Amedeo Montanari, page 140, #252 and #253
The portrait is included in the traveling exhibition For America.
“Over the decades, these submissions have grown into a distinctive collection of American art that today includes nearly every major American artist. For America: Paintings from the National Academy of Design is the first exhibition to highlight this pivotal aspect of the collection—the joint presentation of an artist’s portrait with his or her diploma work. Featuring 100 paintings, For America presents not only a visual document of the Academy’s membership but a unique history of American painting from 1809 to the present as told by its makers.
For America: Paintings from the National Academy of Design is organized by the National Academy of Design in collaboration with the American Federation of Arts. The exhibition is curated by Diana Thompson, Director of Collections, and Jeremiah William McCarthy, Curator. Click here for more information: www.nationalacademy.org/for-america
The exhibition is travelling the nation allowing audiences outside of New York city where it is located to experience the richness of the country’s venerable institution holdings of America’s artists. The exhibition tour started in the winter of 2019 and continues until 2022. It is currently at the Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA (February 20 – May 16, 2021)…for more information: https://figgeartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/view/for-america-200-years-of-painting-from-the-national-academy-of-design/205
John Singer Sargent’s self-portrait installed next to his portrait of his dear friend Claude Monet – Sargent’s diploma submission to the National Academy of Design. Photograph courtesy of the Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa; installation photograph from the For America exhibition.
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA (July 4-October 3, 2021) and its last stop will be the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, OK (November 6, 2021-January 30,2022)
Before re-framing, modern version of an Italian narrow moulding 16th style frame.
Italian end of 16th carved and gilded decorated with leaf scrolls in a pastiglia technique and shallow carving; a punch background.
Detail of carving and punch work in the background (circles). After the gilding a tool with a decoration is “punched” into the surface carefully so that the thin gold leaf is not broken creating a textured background for shallow carved leaf scrolls. Closeup of punch work below.
Verso of Framed Self-Portrait
The Fine Arts Conservancy is in collaboration with Takiya which make superior display hardware for art used by museums throughout the world . The D-rings used for Sargent’s new frame and other National Academy of Design pieces were provided by Takiya. For more information: takiya.com.e.aiy.hp.transer.com/about/index.html
Takiya D-ring on the verso of the frame
The portrait is part of exhibition, travelling for Americans to see some of the wonderful works that the National Academy of Design holds, For America. For America virtual tour: https://storage.net-fs.com/hosting/6288278/24/
Gordon Lewis
Laney Lewis
The Fine Arts Conservancy
West Palm Beach, Florida