Do not try to have your art framed at Quebracho on 421 Troutman…That is unless you are MoMA, Sotheby’s or if you own a Picasso. Marcello Quebracho is not just any framer. Together with his partners, he created and restored the frames of the most valuable masterpieces of the history. Yes, including Mona Lisa’s frame in Louvre.

“It’s not that I don’t like art that people sometimes bring in,” Marcello says with a charismatic smile in his little office. “It’s just not what we do here…” Marcello Quebracho was born and raised in Argentina to an Italian family with a long tradition of framing. “Four generations of framers,” Marcello tells me. His classical education in restoration of wood and his PhD in ornaments obtained in Florence, Italy, likely makes Quebracho the only framing company of its kind.

“I personally do the research on how the frame should look, what materials were used in that particular period, identify the reasoning and the religious customs,” Marcello explains his role at Quebracho. “We make each frame from scratch here. That makes us very different from other companies in the country,” Marcello continues explaining the process. “Each frame begins as a piece of wood here.”