Collection Information
Size: 4.2 Linear feet
Summary: The papers of sculptor and painter Mary Frank measure 4.2 linear feet and date from 1884-2017. Included are correspondence, writings, photographs, artwork and printed material documenting Frank's career. Correspondence is both personal and professional. Writings include dreams recounted in detail, poems, and ideas for works of art, some illustrated. Black and white photographs are of Frank, her sculptures, friends and family, and source material. Artwork includes drawings and sketches in dry point, pencil and watercolor. Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, announcements, brochures and clippings.
Biographical/Historical Note
Mary Frank (1933-) is a sculptor, ceramicist, and painter in New York, New York. She was born in London, England in 1933 to writer, Edward Lockspeiser, and artist, Eleanore Weinstein. In 1940, she and her mother moved to Brooklyn, New York and moved in with her mother's parents, Gregory and Eugenie Weinstein. Eventually Frank and her mother moved to the Village in Manhattan. Frank studied modern dance with Martha Graham and attended the High School of Music and Art, the Professional Children's School, and studied under artists Hans Hofmann and Max Beckmann. While still in high school, she met photographer, Robert Frank, whom she eventually married in 1950. They had two children, Pablo and Andrea, and divorced in 1969. Frank first exhibited her artwork at Poindexter Gallery in 1958 and traveled with Red Grooms across Italy in the 1960s, which had a significant impact on her artistic development. Her work is also influenced by her daughter's untimely death in 1974 and her son's illness that began in 1975 and ended in his death in 1994.
Provenance
Donated in 2014 and 2019 by Mary Frank.
Related Materials
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Mary Frank conducted by Judith Olch Richards on January 10, 11, and February 3, 2010.
Language Note
Materials are primarily in English, with some materials in French and Spanish.