ARTHUR FRANK MATHEWS
Arthur and Lucia Mathews “At the end of the nineteenth century, as a reaction and revolt against the smog and tyranny of the newly industrialized world, a group of English craftsmen and artists began to preach a return to simplicity. Their words began the Arts and Crafts Movement, which rapidly spread throughout Europe and America. By the beginning of the twentieth century, followers of the Movement were flocking to California to enjoy the splendor of the state’s fresh air and natural beauty. In 1906, Arts and Crafts followers Arthur Mathews (1850-1945) and his wife Lucia Mathews (1870-1955) started producing hand-made furniture and decorative house wares in a small San Francisco workshop named The Furniture Shop. Their style was distinctly Californian, highlighting the native flora and picturesque landscapes for which the state was known. The Oakland Museum of California houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of Mathews works in the world.” —OCMA text
In addition to framing several paintings by Arthur Mathews, Gill & Lagodich owns two original frames from the Mathews Furniture Shop. (images to come.)
ARTHUR FRANK MATHEWS (1860–1945)
“Afternoon Among the Cypress,” ca. 1905, oil on canvas, 26-3/16 x 30-3/16 in. Framed by Gill & Lagodich for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2002). Custom-made hand-carved and gilded replica frame with period patina to replicate light Roman Gilded surface per Mathews’s aesthetic: copy of c. 1905 design, per photograph in Arthur Mathews Furniture Shop period scrapbook archived at Oakland Museum of California, that shows MMA painting in original frame (now lost). Painting: Gift of Mrs. Henrietta Zeile, 1909. “Mathews was not only a painter but an architect and a designer of interiors, furniture, and decorative objects. Through his publications and teaching, he did much to popularize his variation of Art Nouveau, sometimes referred to as the California decorative style. Mathews's landscapes celebrate California's distinctive topography, plant life, and tawny, golden tonalities. In "Afternoon among the Cypresses," he silhouettes the bent limbs and wide flat crowns of the Monterey-peninsula cypress trees to achieve a strong decorative effect. Heavy foreground shadows and the darkened copse contribute to the moody, slightly mysterious impression.” —Met Museum label.
Period scrapbook page: Arthur Mathews Furniture Shop, archived at Oakland Museum of California, that shows The Met’s Mathews painting in original frame (now lost).
