He is an almost encyclopedic man, with a lot of knowledge and exquisite taste, passionate and perfectionist in his work, an ideologue of the craft of framing that he has turned into art. This was not, however, his first vocation, “I studied Art History, I wanted to be a teacher – he confesses – but, 40 years ago, I started working in antiques with my father, and coincidentally, I specialized in the world of frames. ”
His studio-workshop, located in the Sant Pere neighborhood of Barcelona, ??in a building from the mid-19th century, which was owned by a textile family, is a true statement of principles. Three open-plan naves, superimposed on three levels, with an intentionally ruinous appearance, with high ceilings, exposed vaults and whitewashed walls full of period frames that Horacio has managed to gather by searching flea markets, antique shops and auction rooms, to restore them and, finally , fit them into the boxes.
Among its clients are large museums, top ten collectors, galleries, foundations and artists themselves. He has framed more than 3,000 works, among which stand out, for example, Los membrillos (MNAC) and Agnus Dei (Museo del Prado) by Zurbarán, four portraits of girls painted by Velázquez, The Harlequin by Picasso, a self-portrait by Warhol and, lately, a Banksy.
He tells me that he would love to frame one of Goya’s black paintings, like the one of the Half-Sunken Dog, which, in his opinion, would deserve another frame. “But, beyond its monetary value, any object can be a work of art – he points out – I also like to frame children’s drawings, family photographs, a concert ticket, a handkerchief, a flower… because it is the love of its owner. which makes them art. It is the look, our look, that makes a thing, no matter how insignificant it may seem, art.”
His objective when framing a painting is to highlight its content, isolating it from the surroundings through a limit, “whether with a simple wooden strip, with a shiny, golden frame if it is a monarch or an illustrious personage, or a sweeter, cleaner and calmer frame if the painting represents a nude. There is no golden rule, the practice of framing is exposed to each person’s feelings, to the subjective, and therein lies one of its charms,” says Horacio. He not only has great intuition and a fine sense of smell to carry out his job, but he also has a background that gives him a clear position of privilege.
In his studio, bathed in the natural light that penetrates from the entrance patio, he works surrounded by everything that brings energy to his life: frames, many frames, but also a lot of books on the subject, folders, photographs, documents and papers. At the moment, in addition to preparing a commission for the Prado Museum, he is involved in curating two exhibitions. The first exhibition is The Framed Figure and will include a list of 300 paintings explaining how each of them were framed. The other is for a collector of books, documents, pamphlets and other things printed between 1850 and 1960.
“The frames have a humble essence. They are not the protagonists of the work of art, the important thing in a painting is, obviously, its painting, but the frame is visible, what wine is in a good meal, the appropriate complement. An image can evoke very different things, even opposites, depending on how they are framed. That is why all painters in history have worried about how to present their works to the viewer, choosing their own frames. My job consists of enhancing all the virtues of painting, applying common sense.”
Horacio Pérez-Hita advises, presents several framework proposals, reasons them, but it is the client who decides. “I like to work hand in hand with the people who have to live with the painting, getting to know its environment, the place where it will be located and in some way it satisfies me to see that all my clients not only return, but become friends”.
