About Us

As one of the most prestigious and widely recognized names in custom framing today, Nielsen Bainbridge is the flagship brand of the Nielsen Bainbridge Group. Now headquartered with its parent company in Wheeling, IL, Nielsen Bainbridge combines intensive research with the latest styles and trends to deliver a wide range of the highest quality framing products to the world’s professional framers and museums.Under its Nielsen brand, the company leads the way in high-quality aluminum frames, offering one of the widest assortments of profiles, colors and exclusive anodized finishes available. Nielsen is the only manufacturer with an extruding, anodizing and painting facility devoted exclusively to picture frame moulding, allowing meticulous quality control at every stage of manufacturing.Under its century-old Bainbridge brand, the company produces the most highly regarded offering of matboards and foamboards, as well as graphics and illustration boards. Bainbridge offers a vast array of contemporary color options and styles, along with the highest quality materials for virtually any framing need.In 1995, Nielsen Bainbridge introduced Artcare™ technology to the framing industry, resulting in the first and only matting and mounting materials providing active protection to artwork from damaging airborne contaminants. Artcare technology has proven to provide the most advanced archival protection and is the preferred choice among many of the world’s most prestigious museums.In addition to its main markets in the U.S. and Germany, Nielsen Bainbridge picture framing products are sold through affiliated companies in Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Australia, Japan, Denmark, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Poland. The company also exports products to many countries, including the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Spain.

History

Bainbridge began in 1867 in Brooklyn, NY, making history when Charles T. Bainbridge patented his “picture-mat.” In addition to becoming the very first decorative matboard, it introduced color and texture to matting and gave birth to the framing industry as we know it.

In 1890, Bainbridge applied for the world’s first official patent on matboard.

Then, in 1979, the company introduced Alphamat, the first archival matboard with color, offering the benefit of preservation without sacrificing design.

In 1984, the two pioneering companies, Nielsen and Bainbridge, came together like two halves of a whole, continuing successfully to this day.

Nielsen Bainbridge broke new ground in 1995 when it introduced Artcare™ technology, the first matting and mounting material providing active protection to artwork from damaging airborne contaminants. Artcare technology has proven to provide the most advanced protection and is the preferred choice among many of the world’s most prestigious museums. In 2011, the Kohlberg & Company private equity firm acquired the company, laying the groundwork for the acquisition of other longtime industry leaders and the eventual formation of the Nielsen Bainbridge Group.