Speaker: Julia Korner
2 August 2016

Julia takes a look at the history of frames, and how frames have developed in Europe, influenced often by the prevailing architectural style. She looks at how they are constructed and conserved; and how a frame can transform a painting and display it to its best advantage.

The choice of frame is a very personal one and is primarily to complement a picture, but there are certain guidelines that can be helpful: for example, the balance between frame and picture. Julia discusses why a picture might need a frame, aesthetically: how to protect it from the dangers of light and temperature etc., together with the materials available for use; the design, construction and conservation of frames; and the process of making gold leaf and gesso frames and how they are conserved.

Profile
Julia Korner is a specialist and lecturer in fine art conservation and the restoration of paintings, sculptures and frames. She is also a valuer, passionate collector, adviser and curator of paintings and works of art. She trained in art history, sculpture and graphic illustration at Cambridge. Then, for twenty years, she worked for Christie’s as a paintings specialist, building extensive knowledge of Old Masters, and of British, European and American paintings from the 1700s onwards.

Julia has worked independently in her own studio in West London for almost twenty years. Here, she and her small team give specialist conservation work personal and expert attention. Damaged paintings, polychrome statues, frames, over-mantles, traditional gold leaf and gesso frames all emerge restored and transformed under her expertise, knowledge and care.