FRANK FINNEY (CAPEVILLE, VIRGINIA, B. 1947) FOLK ART CARVED AND PAINTED FIGURE OF A CANTALOUPE, an unusual example of two-piece construction that functions as a covered dish, retaining fine polychrome surface, artist signed to underside. Circa 2010. 8 1/2" HOA, 12 1/2" LOA.
Provenance: From a Virginia private collection.
Catalogue Note: Frank Finney (b. 1947) is one of America's finest living folk art carvers. Frank's father, Herman Finney, who worked as a carver for the U. S. Navy and later as a culinary artist for diplomatic functions, was an important early influence. Herman Finney's ability to transform fruits and vegetables into flowers or animals undoubtedly had a major impact on the artistic development of his son. After Frank's service during the Vietnam War, where he earned numerous medals, including a Purple Heart and the V-Valor Battalion Award, the artist returned to his home on the Eastern Shore, where he worked as a commercial fisherman and began his career as a carver in earnest. Known especially for his birds and animals, particularly those native to his beloved Eastern Shore habitat, Finney is also fascinated by the mostly anonymous American folk art carving traditions of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The present carving is the result of this life-long interest on the artist's part, culminating in a unique creation in which he is able to mesh his abilities as a carver with an identifiable regional American style.