DAN'S PAPERS, June 25, 2010 Page 28 www.danshamptons.com
Whose Beach?
Who’s Here
(cont’d from page 19)
Dan Rattainer
nosis of a certain pain I have been having lately. They promised not to shoot me. But then I said that was just a joke, a bargaining point, and it was okay anyway and they said they weren’t shooting me anyway. I took lots of pictures, but I did miss one I wish I had gotten. An East Hampton police officer, a woman, came riding out onto the beach on one of these motorized vehicles they have with the big balloon tires, apparently looking to give tickets to people who didn’t clean up after their dogs or who were sunbathing topless or exhibiting other illegal behavior. As she passed, a seagull swooped up from behind and began following her. The (continued on page 54)
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by Picasso in just one day in 1964, sold for $106.5 million, making it the most expensive work of art ever sold at that time. Speaking of his approach to such projects, Wilner said, “We always emulate historical precedents. I believe the artists’ intent is paramount, which is why, for the last 30 years, we constantly research the correct framing style for specific artists.” I recently visited Wilner at his 10,000-squarefoot restoration studio in Long Island City. He greeted me at the factory door and graciously gave me a grand tour of his impressive factory. Master craftsmen, carvers and gilders were creating historically accurate replicas of some of the most magnificent frames I have ever seen. His team, led by master wood-carver Felix Teran, has just completed a three-year project for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The re-creation of a 3,000-pound frame for one of the bestknown works in American art, Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s monumental 1851 canvas, “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” The iconic painting hung in the Met with a lackluster frame for many years. Then four years ago, an archivist came across a long-lost 144-year-old Matthew Brady photograph of Leutze’s painting with original frame. “For 20 years, I have dreamt of creating this frame for the Met,” he said. “This is actually the most requested picture in the museum, and the one every school kid sits in front of at one time or another, so it’s about as prestigious as it gets.” The frame’s opening size is over 12 x 21 feet, and is surmounted by an elaborate carving displaying an eagle, flags, ribbons and an arsenal of musketry and other regalia. The gilders used about 12,500 3.5-inch square sheets of gold leaves in the tedious gilding process. “We’ve recreated and carved the original design from scratch,” Wilner continued. This frame will be the focal point of the renovated American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum, and is slated to be unveiled at the opening in the spring of 2011. Wilner’s enthusiasm is not limited to producing masterful replicas. Eli Wilner & Co. has just introduced the first-ever framing app for the iPhone. Subscribers can frame their masterpieces in a virtual Wilner frame. For just under $10 dollars for 103 frame images, the user of the app can “surround their masterpieces with masterpieces.” Photographers of all ages can rotate, crop, expand, or convert their photos and then select a masterpiece frame to finish the work. The “framed images” can be printed out and placed in scrapbooks, posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr or sent as an email to family and friends. Eli Wilner & Co is joining forces with a number of established non-profit charities and organizations for fundraising purposes. Wilner frames will donate up to 50% of the net sales of the private label App to the organization. In addition, the charities will be holding individual contests for a chance to win an original Eli Wilner frame. When I asked Wilner what his greatest fantasy is, he answered: to re-frame the Mona Lisa. “It has a lovely frame but it’s a bit overdone,” he said.