Samsung’s iconic The Frame TV, which doubles as a digital art frame when not in regular use, is getting more artwork to display thanks to a new partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
The partnership will expand the potential art collection for millions of The Frame TV owners, with classic works of art such as Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” and Edgar Degas’s “The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage”. It would cost an absolute fortune to buy either of the originals, with Sunflowers likely to set you back around $40 million. But with The Frame, it’s now possible to adorn your living room wall with an extremely accurate digital replica of the same artwork for the princely sum of just $4.99 per month, or $49.90 per year, Samsung said.
All told, the partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art adds 38 new images to Samsung’s gallery store, with select works chosen from its American Wing, Asian Art, Egyptian Art, Islamic Art and European Art collection. So not only will The Frame owners have access to some of the world’s most iconic paintings, but also images of other treasures such as an ancient Egyptian wedjat eye amulet that dates back to around 1070 BC.
There are also medieval treasures such as “The Unicorn Rests in a Garden” (1495-1505), the famed French and South Netherlandish textile from the Unicorn Tapestries. Other artworks include Japanese wonders such as Katsushika Hokusai’s “Under the Mannen Bridge at Fukagawa” (circa 1830-1832) and Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s “Concise Illustrated Biography of Monk Nichiren: Calming the Stormy Sea at Tsunoda in Exile to Sado Island” (1835-1836). There are also works such as Paul Cézanne’s “Still Life with Apples and Pot of Primroses” (circa 1890); and Georges Seurat’s “Circus Sideshow” (“Parade du Cirque”) (1887-1888).
American artists are well represented too, with the most significant being Emanuel Leutze’s “Washington Crossing the Delaware” (1851).
Samsung said its art store now contains more than 2,300 works of art in total, with a selection that spans both centuries and continents and appeals to just about everyone’s taste. Alongside the ancient artworks added today, there is a large selection of contemporary and modern art to choose from.
Samsung’s The Frame is the perfect TV to display these artworks because it not only looks like a picture frame when it’s not streaming Netflix movies, but it also has a unique matte display rather than the glossy finish of most TVs. This makes the art look more natural, Samsung says, reducing reflections.
The Frame might not be the best TV in terms of picture quality, because its display is based on older LCD display technology, not Mini-LED or OLED. That said, in terms of its utility it really is unrivaled. While LG’s G3 gallery TV can perform a similar role in the living room, the scope of its art collection doesn’t even come close to Samsung’s.
