Harold Frank (American born in England, 1921-1995). Abstract painting/mixed media on cardstock paper, n.d. Signed at lower right. A fascinating abstract painting by Harold Frank titled "Layers of Color" with a composition that while abstract somehow suggests a landscape, inviting the viewer to follow along a zigzag path running by what appears to be a body of water below a sky comprised of horizontal blue, pink, and white bands that softly blend and merge with one another to suggest the atmosphere. Dramatic passages of scarlet, violet, and baby blue highlight the "landscape," embellishing an otherwise teal color field, as horizontal bands of violet, white, and blush pink mark the emergence of the mottled blue sky above. Size (sight view of image): 7.7" L x 6.75" W (19.6 cm x 17.1 cm) Size (frame): 22" L x 18" W (55.9 cm x 45.7 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 June 25, 1973

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#174802

Signed by the artist at the lower right. Mounted in a matte behind glass in a wooden frame. Matte has some staining as shown. "Layers of Color" is handwritten on a label affixed to the verso of the painting. Frame is fit with suspension hardware.