He used austere flat plate frames with no edge mouldings in the 70s, revival Spanish cushion and reverse profiles in the 80s, and Netherlandish-style ripple mouldings some of these are eclectic and some almost kitsch.
Perhaps an expert would be able to identify the date of the work by the style of the frame, I don’t know. In fact Craigie Aitchison used all sorts of profiles, from all kinds of places. However, I have a Liberace side to my character, and it certainly needs to be held in check – voluptuous yet minimal.Ĭraigie Aitchison (1926-2009), Alan McNaught with a bird, 1970, 12 x 11 ins (30.5 x 27.9 cm.), and reverse, Piano Nobile, LondonĬraigie Aitchison (1926-2009), title & location unknown, in replica 18 th Spanish-style cushion frame, black-painted with gilded punchwork acanthus corners and punched back and sight edges And for me that is usually a technical thing, rather than historical - for example, something too charmless, too mechanical.Īs for Baroque frames on modern paintings – if you mean as in the contemporary fashion for kitsch, where an opulent frame is used on a minimal image: Craigie Aitchison did this. They were under-stated and a little Puritan, but they suited the subjects.įB: Do you always notice the frames on paintings of different periods – Renaissance, Baroque, NeoClassical – if you are in a museum? – and would you ever use an antique frame with a lot of carved ornament, or do you prefer to limit the decorative aspect solely to the finish? I’ve seen a contemporary artist using a Baroque Florentine leaf frame (all swoops and swirls and opulent gilding) for an avant-garde portrait do you think that such a clash of styles may nudge the spectator into seeing the painting more clearly, perhaps?īH: In terms of the great periods you mention - I think one only notices the frame when something is dramatically wrong.
Her frames were well chosen – simple, flat and dry. She was a bit older, she had been to Camberwell and did flat, well-designed paintings of Scottish boats and buoys. Though early on I did admire a little-known artist called Sophie MacPherson. Sophie MacPherson (b.1957), Rowing boat on the shingle, 1988, 25 x 30 ½ ins (63.5 x 77.5 cm.), Christie’s South Ken, 29 November 2011, Lot 619īH: Generally speaking, no, probably not. It’s a lot of extra work, but that’s fine.įB: Were you alerted to the difference that the right frame could make by a particular artist’s work, or by a tutor or mentor? I’ve always painted pictures for the home rather than the museum, office or warehouse, and from my first show in 1992 in Glasgow onwards, art dealers have always wanted the pictures to be framed. When did you start paying such attention to the framing of your work?īen Henriques, Side table in a blue interior, o/c, 31.89 x 35.83 ins (81 x 91 cm.)īen Henriques, Tulip in a white jar, o/c, 13.78 x 12.2 ins (35 x 31 cm.)īen Henriques: Thank you, yes – tailoring the frame for each particular work is my aim. They differ from each other in profile, proportion to the painting, and finish, and each one seems chosen very specifically to harmonize with or complement the colour and composition of the particular picture. The Frame Blog: A notable feature of any hanging of your work is the variety of the frames. An exhibition of his work runs at Jonathan Cooper, London, from 6-28 March 2020 (details below).īen Henriques, Rhode, o/c, 11.02 x 12.6 ins (28 x 32 cm.) He studied Fine Art at the University of Newcastle, has featured three times in the BP Awards, and has exhibited in London, Scotland and Germany since 1992. Ben Henriques is uncompromisingly a representational painter, who imbues the smallest fragment of a moment, embodied in a minimal still life, with a sense of significance.