Object Details
Artist
Louis Michel Eilshemius
Date
1916
Medium
Oil on board
Dimensions
21 × 31 1/2 inches (53.3 × 80 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of William Schack, Class of 1918, and Sarah C. Schack, Class of 1919
Object
Number
78.037.002 a
This work features a bold example of one of the artist’s great innovations: the self-made frame. A(…)
This work features a bold example of one of the artist’s great innovations: the self-made frame. Around 1910, Eilshemius stopped using canvas in favor of cheap, pressed-fiber boards, including repurposed cardboard. These he adorned with fanciful borders that constituted a practical and economical framing device. The artist enumerated the advantages of his invention in a broadside, proclaiming his frames “very light in weight; do not break; are attractive; no wood is used; made with little labor; are luminous.” (“The Best Way to Prepare Bananas: Fruits of the Soul from the Permanent Collection,” curated by Matt Conway and presented at the Johnson Museum June 24-August 13, 2017)
