Gerry Alabone is concerned with understanding, managing and communicating the assistance that frames give to paintings within their settings.
Gerry studied Fine Art (painting) at Bath Academy of Art and Restoration and Conservation (wood and metals) at London Guildhall University and has over twenty years of experience specialising in picture frames, including employment in the frame-making trade, as a Gallery technician, as lead frames conservator at the City of London’s Guildhall Art Gallery. He was Head of frames conservation at Tate from 2004-2016. He is presently Senior Conservator (furniture and frames) at the National Trust. Since 2009, Gerry has been Joint Chair of the Gilding & Decorative Surfaces group (Icon). He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.
TEACHING/ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT
- 2015 to present: wood conservation unit leader (BA & PgDip Conservation), City & Guilds of London Art School.
- 2013: lecturer (five-day frames workshop), Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
- 2011 to present: lecturer (BA & PgDip Conservation), City & Guilds of London Art School.
- 2011-13: tutor (one-day frames seminar), International Academic Projects.
- 2011: external reviewer – validation (MA Conservation), Buckinghamshire New University.
- 2008-12: external examiner – subject standards (FdA, BA, BSc and MA Conservation), London Metropolitan University.
- 2008: external examiner – viva voce (PhD), University of Glasgow.
RECENT PROJECTS
- Editor, and conference committee Chair, of Conserving Context: relating object treatment to collections and settings. Archetype Publications in association with Icon, 2014.
- Researching (with Dr. Ivan Houghton) the frames of the Turner Bequest (Art Fund – Jonathan Ruffer curatorial grant), Tate.
- Establishing frames records on Tate’s collection management system (TMS).
- Researching: English mid-seventeenth-century frames; and the composition ornament trade.
- ‘Novelty in Regency Picture Frames’ paper given to Regency Interiors Icon conference, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
- Creating frames-based displays and Frame Stories (information labels describing relationship between the painting and frame), Tate.
- Working party member for Listed-building Management guidelines, City of London Corporation.
PUBLICATIONS
- ‘Understanding the Framing of the Turner Bequest’. In The British Art Journal, volume XII no.1, 2011, pp.42-51.
‘The Picture Frame: knowing its place’. In Art, Conservation and Authenticities: material, concept, context, Erma Hermens and Tina Fiske (eds). Glasgow University, 2009, pp.60-69. - ‘Introducing the Bloomsbury Frame Works Project’. In The David Harris Conservation Conference, Edward Gregory (ed). London Metropolitan University, 2007, pp.24-28.
- ‘“The Defeat of the Floating Batteries off Gibraltar” by John Singleton Copley: history and display’. In Big Pictures: problems and solutions for outsize paintings, Sally Woodcock (ed). London: Archetype Publications in association with Icon, 2005, pp.131-143.