The high cost of improper custom framing!

You, too, can be a picture framer. It is one of the easiest professions to enter. You can find an inexpensive storefront...or take a position with a national chain. You can handle expensive art and cherished memorabilia for clients with minimal training and experience...and you might even get away with your lack of competency...for a time.

Here is an edited version of recent e-correspondence. Perhaps when you read it, you will understand why the Gallery One staff is insistent that clients work exclusively with CERTIFIED PICTURE FRAMERS (they exist throughout the country) for the good of their valuables.

Email to Gallery One
I am interested in the price of Stephen Lyman's "Evening Light," released in 1990. Thanks

Email from Gallery One
The print should retail for about $4500 - MINT, NEVER FRAMED. Thanks. Alan

Email to Gallery One
I inquired because I just bought a such a Lyman print at _____________(name withheld). It was framed back in 2007 and the person (they said) never came to pick it up. I gave them $150 for the print. Did I get a good buy? Thanks.

Email from Gallery One
You may have gotten a great buy depending upon how the print was framed and its present condition. Is it floated behind the mat? Or taped? If it was not framed according to conservation requirements, it may be worth very little. Alan

Email to Gallery One
Thanks again, Alan. I understand the print was dry-mounted. Does that affect the price?

Email from Gallery One
Yes, it devalues the work significantly. Your signed and numbered, limited edition print was treated the way a $20 poster should be treated. It is like taking a mint condition stamp, licking it, and putting it on a letter. Shame on the custom framer. In any event, at $150, you have a bargain. But it will never be worth $4500. Perhaps the original owner discovered that the framer was incompetent and made a financial settlement.

Email to Gallery One
Thanks very much for your time. I will definitely look you up when I make future purchases.

That's all for now!
Norah Lynne Brown