**Originally Listed At $300**

Harold Frank (American born in England, 1921-1995). "Three Dark Linear Nudes" mixed media on paper, n.d. Signed at lower right. A striking composition by Harold Frank depicting an Abstract-Expressionist inspired rendering of three standing nude female figures - perhaps the artist's interpretation of the Three Graces - their bodies delineated in black over a background rendered in myriad shades of purple, blue, red, and green. The figures are rendered in Frank's expressive manner, and the composition is further embellished by the artist's gestural marks made with instruments such as the back of his brush. 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) A powerful piece delineated in Frank's Abstract Expressionist manner that demonstrates the artist's exhaustive experimentation with techniques and materials. Size (sight view): 13.625" L x 10.3" W (34.6 cm x 26.2 cm) Size (matte): 20" L x 16" W (50.8 cm x 40.6 cm)

Elenore Welles' essay in Sandie Stern's "Harold Frank Abstract Expressionist 1921-1995" (2001) speaks to Harold Frank's tireless exploration of medium and technique. She writes, "The overriding desire to make the artworks fresh leads to constant experimentation with materials and textures. Working with enamel and water-based paints, he explores the inherent qualities of the paper, canvas, and corrugated board, seeking to achieve unusual effects with the back of a brush, a razor, or a screw driver. He looks for surprises."

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

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#175909

Signed at lower right. Paint splatters and inventory labels on verso with title referred to as "Three Dark Linear Nudes" on one label and "Three Dark Linear Figures" on the other. Artwork attached to matte with tape on verso; some of the tape is no longer adhering to the matte. Original matte with a few stray marks, fraying to corners, and toning commensurate with age. Matte could be removed by a professional.