Leather Frame from Nairobi

Framar

WOW Framer
Joined
Jul 24, 2001
Posts
26,420
Loc
Buffalo, New York, USA/Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada
I DID NOT MAKE THIS FRAME!!! The artist who painted the painting did - which is highly unusual in itself but this frame is 90% cowhide and 10% masonite and brass.

The artist and framer is Gikonyo Maina, a leading Kenyan artist and the subject matter is a portrait of Dedan Kimathi, Kenyan nationalist and anti-colonial leader of the Mau Mau. He was captured and hanged by the British colonial government in Kenya in 1957. Kimathi was the commander and spiritual leader of the Mau Mau, also known as the Land and Freedom Movement.

This "icon" is framed in a most fascinating manner. As far as I can tell, the painting is cut and mounted onto this masonite. Then three or four layers of heavy cowhide are glued around it and adorned with lacing and the arched top.

The framer also utilized a rudimentary fillet of brass rods, glued into place along the inside edges of the leather frame.

My customer brought it to me to have two additional slots cut into the outer edges at the top of the frame for the leather strap upon which the painting hangs. Altogether theframe and masonite backing are over 1/2" thick!

I was chosen to "complete" the strap because my customer had commissioned the piece and had a plane to catch before the artist/framer could finish it!

I thought y'all might find this as fascinating as I did. Anyone ever seen anything like it before?

11_33_31_LeatherFrame.jpg


11_33_49_LeatherFramedetail.jpg


11_34_05_LeatherFrameBack.jpg

This is what the frame looks like on the back - I glued the ends of the strap into place with Weldbond and clamped it for 24 hours.

I think this is surely one of the most unusual approaches to framing that I have ever seen!
 
Gee Mar, looks like a stock 347-45L-3297ICON frame to me... what do you think Terry? :D

BTW: I haven't framed an Icon since 88, until I started talking to Terry about our project.

Wed: 2 2"x3" incons from Russia
Fri: 1 8x12 painted on board from Romania
Sat: 3 painted on glass -- same artist from Romania
Sat: 1 6x8 wax on board Armenian...

Now Mar gets one...

So do we code name them Gold Slugs?
 
Come on, Baer - it is a whole leather frame - be serious - what do you think of it? It's about 24x30 overall, BTW.

I just thought it was way cool...

And if you need an artist to paint an Icon, I know this really good one in the Big Apple...most of his stuff looks like icons anyways.
 
I really like that, it gives me some new ideas. Thanks for sharing. BTW how much does it weigh?
 
I am guessing it weighed between 5 and 10 pounds - the masonite was only 1/8th inch thick and with three layers of 1/8th inch cowhide.
 
Elsa reaches out and~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Slaps Baer upside the head!!!


I love it!!

That is really neat!


Elsa
 
That is a cool frame and would look great on an icon. For me the painting doesn't make it in that respect though. What do you think? It looks like failed cross cultureization attemt to me. But of course they are inseperable.I was once asked by a museum curator to look at reframing an American Impressionist painting that was in a French frame that just did'nt work. Looked so bad that they had never even displayed it. I worked on some designs and they did more research. In the end they found that the artist had framed it that way so they decided they couldn't change it. Back into storage it went and there it sits.
 
I always think of leather and lacing as American Western style - but I have seen a whole lot of African craftwork over the years (and framed it!) and I suspect they were doing that kind of work (beading, lacing, etc) long before folks on this continent were doing it! Cradle of Civilization, etc.

The painting itself is more modern, of course, and you'll notice that the mountains of Kenya are incorporated into his hair at the top and an outline of Kenya is incorporated into the neckline - as well as the dripping blood to signify the struggle for independence.

And, as you have said, Terry - the ARTIST framed it! Our gallery in Buffalo has gone back and forth several times with a Seurat and its frame -did he paint the frame or didn't he?

At least in the future this particular painting will be well documented!
 
Mar, I do like it.... was just having a little Warped bleed-over...sorry.

Elsa, you've been watching WAY to much NCIS....
and you need to ease up on the Starbucks.

Gee Terry, imagine an american artist using an ugly french frame on their impressionistic drawing...mmmm

Would that be a case of "Bad Artist Frame Job"? :D How rare is that? :eek:
 
Back
Top