OFF THE CANVAS

Moments in time and antiquity brought into reality

We are happy to announce that Donna Distefano is The Frick Collection’s official goldsmith! The esteemed art museum—known for its distinguished Old Master paintings, outstanding sculptures, and decorative arts— features Off the Canvas, Distefano’s 22-karat gold and fine gemstone jewelry collection, in their Museum Store.

Off the Canvas is a concept that has been overwhelmingly driven by paintings and literature for decades—now available to mirror the brilliance and elegance of the works within The Frick Collection. We are thrilled to apply our 35 years of classical goldsmithing expertise to bring the Frick masterpieces to life in a new form. Off the Canvas is displayed in the Museum Store, backed by mural reproductions of the paintings that inspired the pieces. The museum-quality presentation was designed by Sean Younger Thomas.

Our mission remains focused on preserving ancient metalsmithing techniques and shining a light on the art of the metalsmith. With this breathtaking endeavor, we remain Where Metal and Fire Meet Love.

We invite you to view the jewelry collection online or schedule a visit to the Frick with Donna or her Assistant Goldsmith, Sabrina Rice. Please email us here.

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
"A couple of decades ago, I envisioned a piece of jewelry for my wife, Billie—an homage to our shared love of antiquity and timeless treasures we had admired in museums and art books. In those pre-internet days, finding a goldsmith who worked in pure 24-karat gold was no easy task. But through word of mouth, we discovered Donna Distefano, whose artistic vision resonated deeply with our own. Donna’s latest collection, created in collaboration with The Frick Collection, is a breathtaking testament to her lifelong passion and extraordinary skill in the art of metalsmithing. With this collection, she brings to life pieces once seen only in paintings, reimagining them with exquisite craftsmanship and reverence for history. It is a stunning confluence of past and present—art reborn through gold."

Joe Perry, Aerosmith
“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

Learn more about "Off the Canvas"

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.