NEW YORK, NY.- Numerous fine art institutions have been adversely affected by the recent spate of hurricane activity across the United States. To be of the greatest assistance possible during this difficult time, Eli Wilner and Company has established a grant program to offset a sizable portion of restoration costs of frames with storm related damage for not for profit institutions.

Eli Wilner and Company conservators have over 270 years of combined experience reversing damage to frames incurred due to exposure to water and fire. They are the preferred provider by both AXA Art Insurance Corporation and the Chubb Group of insurance companies for frame restoration.

To contact Eli Wilner and Company for assistance with your restoration projects, please call 212.744.6521, or email info@eliwilner.com.

The following case study examines the restoration of an artist-made frame by Irving Couse that sustained significant water damage in a hurricane, and provides insight into the meticulous process to conserve and restore period frames.

Couse, who was known for his depictions of Indians and the American West, designed frames for the Taos school of painters, working in Taos, New Mexico. Couse’s “Taos Frames” are easily identified by their characteristic elegant, whorled carvings and stylized feather motifs. These designs are referential to Native American culture.

Eli Wilner and Company received this particular frame in the wake of Hurricane Ivan with its gilded surface completely destroyed, and with numerous losses to the carved design. Water permeated and destabilized the structure of the wooden frame.

In order to restore the frame to its original condition, master artisans worked to consolidate the structure of the frame, and to rejoin and fill the miters. They carefully filled and re-carved losses to the surface ornament by hand to match the original carving. Gesso was applied to the frame, which was sanded and re-chased to retain the crispness of the carving. Ochre and terra cotta bole, or clay, was brushed on to the gesso, and the frame was gilded and patinated to achieve a sense of age. The restored frame could be said to appear as it would have if the early 20th century surface had acquired its patina naturally over the past century.

Eli Wilner and Company specializes in European and American period frames and frame restoration, boasting an inventory of over 3,500 frames spanning the 15th century to the present. For over 40 years, Eli Wilner and Company has been entrusted with historically appropriate framing of over 15,000 artworks for museums and private collectors.