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masterpiece frames

Guernsey’s presents Eli Wilner masterpiece frames Feb. 19

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
masterpiece frames
A handcrafted bespoke frame in the likeness of Eli Wilner’s most famous work, which surrounds Emanuel Leutze’s ‘Washington Crossing the Delaware.’ This lot is being offered as a smaller scale for any artwork of art within the size parameters. This frame has not yet been made and will be made to the buyer’s specifications. Estimate $250,000 – $350,000. Guernsey’s image

NEW YORK – On Feb. 19, Guernsey’s will be conducting an unprecedented auction of “The Frame as Art: Eli Wilner’s Personal Collection” consisting of more than 400 of the workshop’s finest frames made using old-world artisanship. The auction will be held at New York’s prestigious The Pierre Hotel with Session I beginning at 1 p.m. and Session II beginning at 7 p.m. Bid absentee or live online through LiveAuctioneers.

What do The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Museum and the White House have in common? On the walls of each, one will find more than two dozen magnificent picture frames crafted at the workshops of Eli Wilner & Co., Master Framers. When the Met was searching for an intricately carved, stunning and massive 14-by-23-foot gold-leafed frame to showcase its historic painting of Washington crossing the Delaware, the museum commissioned Eli Wilner for the coveted seven-figure assignment. And when Sotheby’s and Christie’s required the finest frames to surround important works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, O’Keeffe, Rockwell and Magritte, they reached out to the Wilner studio.

masterpiece frames
Eli Wilner frame loaned to Sotheby’s to present Gilbert Stuart’s (1755-1828) ‘George Washington,’ based on an American circa 1810 iconographic American frame, overall size: 46½ x 38in. Estimate $20,000-$25,000. Guernsey’s image

Following the conclusion of prominent museum exhibitions or important art auctions, frames the company loaned for those occasions were returned and became part of the Eli Wilner Classic Frame Collection. Each unique frame will include its exhibition history. The auction will include frames that surrounded works such as: Van Gogh’s Paysage sous un Ciel Mouvemente for $54 million, Rockwell’s The Gossips for $8 million, and Picasso’s Le Peintre et son Modele for $13 million all of which were sold at Sotheby’s.

masterpiece frames
Eli Wilner frame, based on a European 19th century-style frame. Estimate $25,000-$30,000. Guernsey’s image

In addition to Washington Crossing the Delaware, the Met framed John Singer Sargent’s famous Madame X in an exquisite Wilner work, while a visit to the White House would include sightings of Eli Wilner frames on Albert Bierstadt’s powerful Storm Clouds and, in the Oval Office, Childe Hassam’s The Avenue in the Rain.

masterpiece frames
Eli Wilner frame, Charles Prendergast design, American circa 1920-style frame, overall size: 19¾ x 17in. Estimate $7,000-$9,000. Guernsey’s image

Not a perfect fit? Successful buyers of these picture frames can easily have a liner created, adapting the frame to an existing work of art. Or, inasmuch as some view these frames as “masterpieces in and of themselves,” simply add a mirror or nest them on the wall.

masterpiece frames
Detail of an Eli Wilner frame based on an Italian 17th-century period frame, overall size: 57½ x 44¼in.
Estimate $20,000-$25,000. Guernsey’s image

Inquiries about this unprecedented auction should be directed to Guernsey’s: 212-794-2280.

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masterpiece frames