HAROLD FRANK

(American, 1921-1995)

SPRING FLOWERS

Oil and Acrylic on Board

18 x 13¼ Inches

Signed Lower Right, "H. Frank"

 

After initially studying in Paris, Harold Frank attended the New York Art Students League, the National Academy of Design, Pratt Institute, Chouinard Art Institute and UCLA where he was a colleague of Richard Diebenkorn, who had a lasting influence on his work. Other artists who deeply affected his creative philosophy included Matisse, Rouault, Picasso and De Kooning. His subject matter included pure abstracts, landscapes, still lifes and figurals. As many artists have done before and after him, he explored variations of each subject, experimenting with changes in medium, technique, light and color. His remarkable paintings of the female head and form quickly developed into a vehicle for his abstract interpretations. Though his brushwork is quick and sure, he often labored over several pieces at the same time.

 

Frank exhibited widely and with success, including in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Aubonne, Switzerland, as well as throughout the United States from the 1960's through the 80's. The recipient of numerous awards, Frank was recognized with the Adolph and Clara Obrig Award and the Sudam Silver Medal from the National Academy of Design; the National Watercolor Society's Grumbacher Award; the John Marin Memorial Award in the Watercolor U.S.A. Show and a First Prize from the Laguna Beach Museum of Art.

 

This piece is accompanied with a first edition copy of 'Harold Frank: Abstract Expressionist 1921-1995' by Sandie Stern and published by Millenium Twelve Two (2001).

 

Education:

National Academy of Design, New York, 1936; Art Students League, New York, 1937; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York; Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles; University of California, Los Angeles.

 

Selected One-Man Exhibitions:

Savage Gallery, London, England, 1960; Galerij Werking, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1960; Ardail-Castro Gallery, Paris, France, 1960; Pasadena Art Musuem, Pasadena, California, 1962; Ryder Gallery, Los Angeles, California, 1964; Ankrum Gallery, Los Angeles, California, 1964; Gallerie Chantepierre, Aubonne, Switzerland, 1966; Haggenmmaker Gallery, Beverly Hills, California, 1966; Irene Neuman Galleries (with Ernest Halpern), Los Angeles, California, 1968; Emerson Gallery, Encino, California, 1973; Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, California, 1977; Chester House Gallery, Chester, Vermont, 1977; L'Atelier Gallerie, Carmel, California, 1978; Upstairs Downstairs, Laguna Beach, California, 1979; International Student Center, UCLA, 1984; Robert Zehil Gallery, Beverly Hills, California, 1986; Front Porch/Human Arts Gallery, West Los Angeles, California, 1987; Soho Gallery, Studio City, California, 2002 (first posthumous exhibition).

 

Selected Group Exhibitions:

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, 1959 ;National Water Color Society Traveling Exhibition, 1965-1968, 1971-1973; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California, 1966; Municipal Art Gallery (Barnsdall Park), Los Angeles, California, 1969; KCET Television Auction, Los Angeles, California, 1968, 1969; Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, California, 1971, 1972; Water Color USA, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1980; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, 1970, 1975; Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri, 1977-1979; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, 1977-1979; William Grant Still Community Arts Center, "Artists Against Hunger," Los Angeles, California, 1985; Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, California, 1988; Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Beverly Hills, California, 1992.

 

Selected Awards:

John Marin Memorial Award, Watercolor USA, 1968; Honor Award, University of Judaism, School of Fine Arts, Los Angeles, California, 1969; Certificate of Merit, National Academy of Design, New York, 1975 All California Show, Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, California, 1976; Grumbacher Award, National Watercolor Society, 1976; The Adolph and Clara Obrig Prize, National Academy of Design, New York, 1977, 1978; Miles Blatt Award, National Watercolor Society, 1979; Certificate of Merit, Watercolor USA Honor Society, 1986.

 

Selected Reviews:

Leverque, Jean-Jacques. "Eloge de l'effervescence," Sens Plasticque, 1961; Carles, Henry Galy. "Les Exhibitions a Paris," Aujourd'hui, 1961; Who's Who in Art, 1971-1972; Johnson, Judy, "Poetic Overflow," Southwest Art, June, 1980; Bordeau, Jean-Luc. "A Feminine Ideal,", Robert Zehil Gallery, Exhibition Catalogue, 1986; Los Angeles Times, 1965, 1985; Welles, Eleanor. Artscene, Los Angeles, January, 1987; Mugnaini, Joseph. Expressive Drawing, A Schematic Approach, 1989.

 

Reference:

Harold Frank, Abstract Expressionist, 1921-1995, by Sandie Stern, Millenium Twelve Two, 2001.