Is the Art Worth the Frame?

I have always loved the picture above, an entranceway, created by Vincent Wolf. It is the artwork that is the strongpoint I think. It suggests that the owner knows what he/she likes in art. As though when it comes down to art and decorating you don't have to buy to decorate because if you collect what you like the pieces will always, eventually at any rate, fit together, complement each other.


 I have a bunch of artwork in my house. A lot of it is collected on trips abroad--vacations, travel for work. The rest of it I collect on instinct when I got to the flea market-- I say on instinct because if I see a piece, it appeals to me (colours, texture, subject matter) I never think twice, I just buy it. This disturbs my husband and it's one of the reasons he stays home when I head out to the flea market.

For many people art must be seen as valuable by others or perhaps the artist must be a known quantity and be valued as a true/known/established artist before they buy the artwork. Not so for me. And I think others may be the same way too.

Buying art is very personal to me and I leave others and their opinions out of it (except maybe, sometimes I take my husband's point of view).

Once I have bought the piece, I embark on a tormenting, drawn out process of choosing the right frame, if it is a print, painting or photograph. So I have been combing through a lot of interiors to see what appeals in terms of framing.

I like the  drama of setting a small photograph in an oversized frame and matte.

 I also like contemporary art, like an abstract work, in gilded or elaborately carved frame.

Then again, sometimes it is not about the artwork and more about letting it sit comfortably with the colour of the walls, the décor or the other artwork among which it will be grouped.

I have two paintings (each of women) done on canvas that I bought on the Ponte Alexandre III bridge from the artist himself in Paris. They look like the one below in the living room of  Dave DeMattei and Patrick Wade.

For the two women, I have decided that rather than have each canvas cloth stretched over a frame, I will have each stretched and mounted on a flat board and then framed in a gilt or carved frame with a soft cream or white matte. As in the picture below. This decision has taken me 7 years to reach. In all that time I never regretted buying the paintings.

So, does it matter if the frame is more expensive than the art?