NEW YORK, NY.- Eli Wilner has contributed an essay to the catalog “The Lunder Collection: A Gift of Art to Colby College.” Mr. Wilner’s chapter, entitled “Surrounding Beauty: Period Frames in the Lunder Collection,” discusses both the exquisite frames in the collection, and his treasured friendship with Peter and Paula Lunder, now spanning over twenty-five years. With them he shares an appreciation for the important relationship between a painting and its frame, and together they have had the opportunity to explore how specific frames complement and enhance individual artworks in the collection.

Mr. Wilner’s essay discusses many of the frame styles included in the collection, from the complex and elaborate 19th century frames created of applied, molded ornament to the refined and elegant hand-carved frames of early 20th century Boston and New York. He examines the frames on Eastman Johnson’s Party in the Maple Sugar Camp, Sanford Robinson Gifford’s Marshes of the Hudson, Theodore Robinson’s Boats at a Landing, Rockwell Kent’s Tugboat on the Hudson, and John MacGregor Paxton’s The Open Book, describing the aesthetic and historical appropriateness of each frame, the historical precedents for the various ornamental elements, and how the specific tonality of each frame enhances the artwork it surrounds.

Peter and Paula Lunder’s vigilant attention to the importance of the frame provides an even greater depth of enjoyment to the viewer of their remarkable and unique collection of American art. The 380-page hardcover catalog “The Lunder Collection: A Gift of Art to Colby College” is available on Amazon.com.