OFF THE CANVAS

Moments in time and antiquity brought into reality

The Frick x DD

Moore Mood.jpg
Margareta Bracelet mood 3.jpg
Cromwell Mood.jpeg

What viewers of Off the Canvas are saying…

  • “Donna Distefano’s goldsmithing is artistry at the highest level: it is a pathway to fundamental truths. As the eighteenth-century Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico wrote, verum ipsum factum, “the true is the made.” It is through creating that we come to know something’s essence. And it is through viewing exquisite virtuosity that our mind and heart experience fireworks."

    Arielle Saiber, PhD
    Charles S. Singleton Professor of Italian Studies Dept. of Modern Languages & Literatures Johns Hopkins University

  • “Donna Distefano has been a spectacular artist of goldsmithing for 35 years, and has brought her singular talents to The Frick Collection, selecting any number of pieces from its paintings to bring to three-dimensional life a breath-catching array of once-in-a-lifetime gifts or family keepsakes.”

    Jim Shepard, Author

  • "Also on the second floor: a brand new museum gift shop. Jewelry designer and master goldsmith Donna Distefano was there sharing her original designs inspired by artwork in the Frick's collection. Her favorite is an exact reproduction of the Cromwell ring from "Portrait of Thomas Cromwell," a 1530s painting by artist Hans Holbein the Younger."

    Wall Street Journal

  • "Off the Canvas by Distefano is a dynamic conversation, a dance of time, where masterpieces of European Renaissance and Baroque painting are translated into the Earth’s most precious gemstones and set into the most valued metals, all by techniques that date back to Classical Antiquity and by a team of twenty-first-century craftswomen’s hands. Dante wrote that Love “moves the Sun and the other stars.” Love also catalyzes and infuses Distefano’s creations—love for her work and that of past masters, and love for the beauty that emerges along with truth in the act of creation.”

    Arielle Saiber, PhD
    Charles S. Singleton Professor of Italian Studies Dept. of Modern Languages & Literatures Johns Hopkins University

  • “In addition to the commanding staircase, the newly restored Frick mansion has another dazzling jewel: a collaboration with master goldsmith Donna Distefano. Her work is elegant and enchanting and tells a rich story of art and history that can be held and cherished. It’s for everyone that would love a master painting on their own wall that can instead be worn over their own heart.”

    Judy Ann Nock, Author

The work of the studio has been overwhelmingly driven by an appreciation for classical art and literature.
Distefano believes in a future informed by the past and looks to those ancient pieces seen in Renaissance paintings or rendered in grand frescos to build a body of work that seeks to bring context to modern jewelry. Off the Canvas is explorative and allows treasures of the past to be brought to life.