Lot 183
Harold Frank (American born in England, 1921-1995). "Two White Nudes on Blue" mixed media painting on paper, n.d. Signed at lower right. A mesmerizing composition by Harold Frank depicting an Abstract-Expressionist rendering of two nude female figures, their bodies (from heads to thighs) delineated with Frank's signature expressive loose brushstrokes, lyrical contouring lines, and vibrant color palette - shades of blue, red, green, lavender and white - before a color field of blue, pink, lavender, and teal hues - with black contours throughout. According to scholar Sandie Stern, "Like his idol de Kooning, Frank chose the human figure, as his principal subject. Variations on women became a lifelong, consistent, ubiquitous theme." (Stern, "H. Frank", p. 16) Size (painting): 9.25" L x 8.625" W (23.5 cm x 21.9 cm) Size (matte): 20" L x 16" W (50.8 cm x 40.6 cm)
Harold Frank immigrated with his family to the US through Ellis Island. Growing up in the tenements of the Lower East Side in New York City during the era of the Great Depression and World War II, Frank found Abstract Expressionism to be the ideal means to explore the angst of his world. He once stated, "I can live with the abstract. Life is a mystery."
Frank studied at the Art Students League in New York, the National Academy of Design, the Pratt Institute, the Chouinard Art Institute, and UCLA where he was a colleague of Richard Diebenkorn (American, 1922-1993), an artist who is oftentimes associated with Abstract Expressionism as well as a pioneer of the Bay Area Figurative Movement. In addition to Diebenkorn, Frank's influences include DeKooning, Picasso, Matisse, and Rouault. While he also created landscapes, non-objective abstract compositions, and still-life paintings, figures and head studies were the predominant theme of his oeuvre.
For more about Harold Frank, see Sandie Stern's monograph "Harold Frank Abstract Expressionist 1921-1995" (2001).
Provenance: private Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA collection, acquired via descent, purchased from artist on June 25th, 1973
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#175912
- Condition: Signed at lower right. Collection labels on verso. Painted composition is excellent. Paint splatters and abrasions to verso. Original matte with age wear and stains as shown could be replaced by a professional.
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