Lot 449
**First Time At Auction**
Harold Frank (American born in England, 1921-1995). "Softest Pastel Head and Torso" painting/mixed media on paper, n.d. Hand-signed in lower right. A captivating composition by Harold Frank titled "Softest Pastel Head and Torso" depicting the head and torso of a female nude; the gentle beauty gazes outward, delineated in a light-hued palette of Frank's signature quick, expressive brushstrokes and lyrical lines. According to Frank 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) 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." Size: 17.5" W x 23" H (44.4 cm x 58.4 cm)
Harold Frank studied art at the Art Students League in New York, the National Academy of Design, Pratt Institute, 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.
Provenance: private Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA collection, acquired via descent, purchased from artist on June 25th, 1973
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#175892
- Condition: A few small areas of loss to top and left edges of paper. Hand-signed in lower right. Painting is good condition, however stabilzation is recommended. Old collection labels on verso.
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