The Large Blue HorsesBy Franz Marc, 1911

A reframing project

A new “old” frame

To commemorate the painting’s acquisition, Curator Joan Rothfuss wanted something that resembled the frame as pictured in these archive photos:

The current frame was narrow gold:

Realizing I couldn’t cut the cove with the equipment at hand, I devised a plan to create the frame from part of a stock architectural moulding combined with parts I milled in-house.

I sourced a local moulding and sketched a plan:

The frame would be built from six sections, plus a liner.

The painting needed to be glazed for protection, and the product chosen was Tru Vue Optium Museum Acrylic, a coated, reduced reflection product.

The glazing would fit between the frame and liner to create space.

The depth of the frame was designed around the liner to be sure there was enough room for the painting to be comfortable.

I cut the coved section I needed from the crown moulding.

Then I milled the other parts.

Here’s a view of the end, showing how the parts come together.

After the parts were glued together, I then cut the mitres.

The corners were joined and the seams filled.

Lots of sanding, and a primer coat.

The final details and the first finish coat.

The painting was fit into the liner using offsets, with Volara to protect the surface and felt to protect the sides..

I ended up re-finishing three times to get the color to work in the gallery, using details from the painting as reference.