What's In A Frame?

Have you ever wondered how an artists chooses the frame for the piece? Imagine, for a second, what the Mona Lisa might look like in a different frame...

Now tell me, which one is your favorite? Which ones looks right, and why is that?

Believe it or not, when it comes to creating a masterpiece, the work doesn't end with the canvas. So here's a simple way to engage your child, whether it's on your next visit to the museum, checking out an art book or simply googling images, ask them what they think of, not the piece, but the frame. What would it be like if it had a different frame, say a solid black frame or a crazy bright red frame?

Not all paintings you see in museums have the original frame, but curators do their best to find the most fitting one, what do they think the artist would have chosen as their original frame and are there any pieces with frames that they think should swap?

Here's another one to consider - the artists Howard Hodgkin actually paints his frames to "make them part of the picture." Hodgkin is also quoted as saying that frames are "where the picture stops and the world begins"* - you can ask your child "what do you think that means?