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John Esty Fine Custom Framing

50b59d2be4b08dc1885224a4John Esty is the proprietor and resident craftsman at John Esty Fine Custom Framing, and has a reputation for being an exacting perfectionist.  It’s a distinction he’s worked hard to create and maintain,  and he’ll be the first to tell you he likes it that way.  This is not just another frame shop – this is one of New York City’s best framing establishments.  Here’s why.

Esty put himself through Graphic Design school in Rochester, New York working for Eastman Kodak as an archival framer… an education unto itself.  Upon graduation he moved to the city, and began a very successful decade long career in advertising.  His love of art coupled with a family tragedy turned his focus away from the grind of Madison Avenue toward a wish for a simpler more fulfilling personal interaction with the world.  He quit his job, and opened his business in the village, and has been framing art with museum quality standards for more than 20 years.

John explained to me that art of any kind needs to be enveloped and presented in an absolute PH neutral environment to protect it from acid decay.  He uses only 100% cotton boards to achieve that status.   A full 75% of the moldings at his shop are hand carved, and all are dove-tail joined, sanded, stained and varnished one piece at a time.  He’s established relationships with mills so that a vintage flea market frame can be replicated right down to the species of wood.  Post molding purchase production is done by Esty or his assistant in his Greenwich Avenue workspace – nothing is outsourced.  Every step in the framing process is handled with precision.  By maintaining such exacting standards he has attained the status of master-framer; which allows him to enjoy creative autonomy with many of his clients who prefer to let him choose matting material, color, and frames.  On the day I visited, a very well know Architect had an assistant drop off some carefully wrapped prints with no instructions other than that John should choose how the finished work will be presented.

Oh, and FYI…. don’t look for his website URL link at the bottom of my post.  He doesn’t have one.  He’s never advertised.  This is 100% word of mouth business success.  REFRESHING!

John Esty Fine Framing

44 Greenwich Avenue  New York City 10011   212-691-3753