About Us
Lowy's reputation for excellence is largely due to our staff of highly educated professional consultants. Clients throughout the fine arts community consistently seek our guidance and expertise for their individual conservation and framing needs. Whether serving private collectors, art dealers or museum curators, our consultants provide knowledgeable and personalized assistance in everything from assessing the condition of an artwork and recommending proper conservation treatments to providing aesthetically appropriate antique, reproduction and contemporary frames.
We also review and evaluate entire collections. Our consultants have helped numerous private collectors determine priorities and plan expenditures. Our commitment to offering the highest quality, most comprehensive curatorial services is unsurpassed in the industry.
Larry Shar
Larry Shar, President, is head of the oldest and largest fine arts services firm in the country, upholding the tradition of excellence that has come to define this family-owned company for three generations. Larry's association with Lowy began as a child, when he accompanied his father, Hilly, to work. Under his father's guidance, he learned all aspects of the business, from cleaning and lining paintings to gilding, burnishing, and finishing frames. Larry joined Lowy professionally, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in fine arts from Brandeis University in 1969. Ten years later, he succeeded his father as president.
His myriad responsibilities include advising museums, galleries and private collectors on conservation and framing issues and traveling worldwide to purchase antique frames for Lowy's superlative inventory, the largest in the country. He sees himself as a picture doctor and stylist, helping artworks to show their best colors and live into perpetuity. A longtime member of the American Institute of Conservation, the Art and Antique Dealers League of America and the Appraisers Association of America, Larry also advises clients on the quality and value of their artworks and how to prioritize a collection's needs. He is a highly visible ambassador on the international art scene for the museum-caliber products and services for which Lowy has been widely respected for more than a century.
Brad Shar
Brad Shar, Vice President and General Manager, has been working alongside his father in the family business since 1991. He joined Lowy while attending the New School, where he earned a bachelor's degree in art history in 1996. Brad's interests in both the arts and technology have proven to be a perfect fit for the firm, allowing him to assume many roles. In addition to managing Lowy's art conservation and framing workshops, he consults with clients, oversees human resources, and develops and manages Lowy's computer systems and website.
He also introduced Lowy Scan, a state-of-the-art digital imaging system used for matching paintings with appropriate frames, establishing Lowy as the first fine art services company to offer virtual framing. Brad sees himself as a bridge between the past and future, as he continues to bring cutting-edge technology to Lowy, while maintaining the uncompromising standards of old-world craftsmanship for which the firm is known. He enjoys the artistic environment at Lowy, which offers hands-on experience with world-famous artworks and the opportunity to work with a close-knit team of veteran conservators and frame makers.
Lisa Wyer
Lisa Wyer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, has been with Lowy since 1988, overseeing advertising, public relations and sales to museums, galleries and private collectors. She works closely with clients to accommodate their individual needs, recommending framing and conservation treatments for fine artworks. Lisa also assists with day-to-day operations, functioning as a liaison between Lowy's departments and ensuring timely, first rate service. Additionally, she has organized traveling exhibitions of antique frames from Lowy's extensive inventory, and oversees Lowy's participation in New York's prestigious annual Winter Antiques Show.
Lisa's arts-related background is ideally suited to her position at Lowy. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in art and music, and received a master's degree in fine art from Pratt Institute in 1984. Thereafter, she worked as an assistant printer at a lithography atelier in New York and as a sales consultant for archival materials. At Lowy, her keen aesthetic eye and business acumen have helped to forge longstanding client relationships. Lisa enjoys researching the history of frames, knowing that clients not only rely on Lowy's long established expertise in conservation but in matching frames to various periods and styles of paintings.
R. Wayne Reynolds
R. Wayne Reynolds, Master Gilder and Frame Conservator, joined Lowy in 2005, bringing with him more than 25 years of experience in conservation and restoration of gilded objects and a vast knowledge of framing history. He works with Lowy's artisans to oversee all aspects of frame restoration and reproduction, ensuring that deadlines are met and that each frame leaves the workshop with the consistent high-quality craftsmanship for which Lowy is known. Wayne also designs new frame models, combining traditional frame-making methods with modern technology, and gives demonstrations and lectures on the history of gilding and frame-making at museums and arts organizations.
When needed, he provides condition surveys and on-site frame conservation treatments for museums, galleries and private collectors. He enjoys interactions with clients as much as the detailed work of hands-on gilding. After receiving a bachelor's degree in painting from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore in 1975, Wayne founded R. Wayne Reynolds, a Baltimore company devoted to gilding, and worked in the frame conservation department of The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. He also worked for Sotheby's Restoration for three years in New York as head of its gilding department.