Artbeat

Smith's Picture Framing and Art Gallery

A A A Comments Thursday, Jul 1 2004

Colby Katz

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South Florida businesses don't get much more established than Smith's Picture Framing and Art Gallery, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The small shop, just east of Federal Highway on Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, is owned and operated by Herb and Mildred Sedlis, who bought out the original owner more than two decades ago and never bothered to change the name. Whether the place survives the onslaught of high-rise condo and apartment buildings in its neighborhood remains to be seen. For now, however, Smith's just keeps on doing what it's been doing all these years: custom-framing art and other items and selling a small but diverse selection of art that's already framed and ready to hang. The value of much of the art here is decorative rather than aesthetic. You won't find originals by big-name artists, although Artbeat spotted a few reproductions -- a Léger, for example, as well as a little Botero called Padre Taking a Stroll and the 1889 Van Gogh painting Olive Trees. And there's a copy of Egon Schiele's Krumauer Landshaft, which portrays the artist's studio and adjacent buildings (the original sold at auction at Sotheby's in London for $36.3 million). But there areoriginals, especially lithographs, some quite satisfactory, many signed and numbered. And no object is too humble for Smith's framers to take on. Ceramic masks, porcelain bowls, needlepoint, certificates, postage stamps -- you name it, they frame it. If you don't have something to frame, no problem. Smith's also stocks unframed posters (including movie posters) and art cards. They're yours for the asking; all you pay for is the framing. Smith's Picture Framing and Art Gallery is at 719 E. Broward Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Call 954-462-4391. -- Michael Mills