About Suzanne Smeaton, AAA
A pioneer in the study and scholarship of period frames, Suzanne Smeaton has framed fine art for over 37 years. Working extensively in the field of American period frames Suzanne has advised both public and private clients; conducted comprehensive frame surveys of public, private, and corporate art collections as well as American frame research projects. She has lectured to museum groups throughout the United States; researched and written educational videos; presented at numerous symposia; curated and co-curated frame exhibitions at many museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY and The Columbus Museum of Art, GA. She has also written articles for publications such as The Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Magazine Antiques, Picture Framing Magazine, and American Art, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. For some 27 years, she was employed at the noted frame gallery of Eli Wilner & Company in New York City.
Suzanne has lectured at numerous museums and for art appreciation groups across the country as well as for Christie’s, Sotheby’s American Arts Course, the Appraiser’s Association of America, and the International Society of Appraisers, and she continues to lecture frequently on the subject of American picture frames. In addition, she was an adjunct professor for the NYU Appraisal Studies Program for 10 years.
Among her publications, is an essay on artist-designed frames included in the Eli Wilner & Company book on American frames The Gilded Edge published by Chronicle Books; she also coordinated the compilation of the essays in that book. Other projects include essays on American frames for two museum exhibition catalogs: Life’s Pleasures: The Ashcan Artists’ Brush With Leisure 1895-1925 organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts, and Auspicious Vision: Edwin Wales Root and American Modernism, an exhibition organized by the Munson-Williams Proctor Art Institute. Recent publications include an essay in The Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art describing the re-creation of the original frame for Emanuel Leutze’s iconic 12-by-21-foot painting Washington Crossing the Delaware and a blog post about the frames of George Bellows on www.theframeblog.wordpress.com
Suzanne is a certified member of the Appraiser’s Association of America, an instructor for their CASP Appraisal Studies program and a member of the Board of Directors.
