A painting wouldnt be the same without its frame. In fact, a frame can be as important as the art it surrounds. Yet the picture frame is the Cinderella of the art world, beautiful, hardworking, and frequently overlooked. The Secret Lives of Frames, inspired by the hundred-year history of Lowy, the premier fine arts services atelier in the country, celebrates the extraordinary art and artistry of the frame. In chapters such as The Making of a Framer and a Frame, The Lure of Antique Frames, and New Designs for the New Millennium, magnificent edges of all kinds come to life in vivid detail. Their history, so colorful and varied, is interwoven with the history of Lowy, an old-world company started by the legendary New York framer Julius Lowy, that marries the finest of traditional craftsmanship with new and inventive framing, restoration, and conservation techniques. Fascinating stories about frames, a lively historical survey of their evolution, and behind-the-scenes views of Lowy will transform readers into knowledgeable insiders who understand how to make their own framing choices. The Secret Lives of Frames includes vintage photographs illustrating Lowys colorful history, reproductions of unique paintings of the Lowy workshops created by School-of-Paris artist Arbit Blatas, and extensive photographs of frames and framed works of art in splendid real-life settings.
Deborah Davis is the author of six narrative non-fiction books, including the upcoming The Oprah Winfrey Show: Reflections on an American Legacy, the authorized history of twenty-five years of the landmark television show and its legendary host (Abrams, 2011) and Guest of Honor: Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner that Shocked a Nation, which tells the story of the remarkable event that ignited a racial storm, divided the country, and threatened to topple two of America's greatest men (Atria/S&S). Her other works include Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X (Tarcher/Putnam, 2003), the story behind the legendary John Singer Sargent painting that propelled the artist to international renown but condemned his subject to a life of public ridicule; Party of the Century: The Fabulous Story of Truman Capote and His Black and White Ball (Wiley, 2006), which transports readers to the Oz-like splendor of New York in 1966, where Capote, at the pinnacle of his fame, threw himself the party to end all parties; The Secret Lives of Frames: 100 Years of Art and Artistry (Filipacchi Publishing, 2007), a history of the picture frame, the beautiful, hardworking, and frequently overlooked Cinderella of the art world; and Gilded: How Newport Became the Richest Resort in America (Wiley, 2009), a colorful history of the fabled city from its first colonists to its new millennium millionaires. She has also written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Magazine Antiques, and Art and Antiques. Prior to becoming an author, she was a story editor and story analyst for several major film companies, including Warner Bros. Miramax, and Disney. Davis lives with her husband in Montclair, New Jersey and is the mother of two children.
