February 3, 2008
Martin J. Kotler, 54, a burly painter and sculptor, loves frames. For 18 years, he has been the frame conservator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, in charge of restoring, installing and even making any frames the collection might need. He faced a particular challenge in Elihu Vedder's "The Sun God," from 1881-85, which the museum has owned since 1991 but decided to display only a couple of years ago. Vedder is best known as a painter and illustrator, but in the 1880s he took a brief artistic detour and began working in cast iron. "Sun God" consists of three iron panels originally designed to line a fireplace. Hanging it on the wall of a gallery obviously takes it out of that context. What Kotler dreamed up was a red-oak frame reminiscent of a mantel and columns that might surround a fireplace. The structure had to support more than 200 pounds of iron and also conceal a steel plate and aluminum beam that keep the art from crashing to the floor.
You must sometimes be torn between picking a frame that flatters the artwork and picking a frame that is historically correct. Which way do you break on that?
The truth of the matter is that the frame is the gift to the artist. That means it should be historically as well as aesthetically correct -- one that works with the painting. If the painting is a weak painting or if the frame is too strong, it'll scream that the painting can't fight against that frame and vice versa. This one took two weeks to create, maybe a little longer. I went through all sorts of configurations. I had three-dimensional round columns. And then we decided, let's make them flat. Why compete? And this is the final version I came up with. I like having it very understated but married in a very handsome way that doesn't detract. The frame is always going to be the second child. The artwork is always going to be first. And I really think this one works with the art in the traditional sense and in every other sense as well. It's beautiful.
-- Interview conducted and condensed by John Pancake
PHOTOS: John Pancake - The Washington Post; WEB EDITOR: Julia Beizer - washingtonpost.com
