About Us

Based in the heart of Chicago’s Loop since 1946, Flax Art & Frame started out in life as The Flax Co. It was just after the end of World War II when Donald and Alvin Flax, two brothers from Bayonne, New Jersey, came to Chicago after leaving the Army and Navy to start up a new business. With cousins in the art supply business on the east and west coast, they opted to come to the “third coast” and start up an art supply business of their own.

Sixty two years later, Alvin’s son, Brian, owns and operates the company in Chicago, though it has changed a lot since those early days. When it came to art supplies, both commercial and fine art, they were always considered the “class act” in Chicago. In the late 1980’s, the desktop publishing revolution changed everything for them (and nearly every other art supplier, for that matter), rendering obsolete nearly all the commercial art supplies they sold. In 1990, Brian began the transformation of the company into what it is today: the only full-service picture framer in the downtown, Chicago Loop.

On July 1, 2007, Brian moved the company around the corner to a new store location at 32 E. Adams Street. The photo above is the new location. It was taken not long after we had our new awning installed and the temporary window signs are still up.