Gil Franklin (1919-2004)

For sculptor Gil Franklin, the human figure has always been a major source of inspiration and much of his work has antecedents in the classical sculpture of Greece and Rome - classical, but expressing a contemporary aesthetic through its often rough surfaces, the boldly sliced form, the sharp edge, the restraint in posture.

Franklin explored the complementary and dramatic integration of energy and rhythm with a series of flamenco dancers, the figures arrested and in motion at the same time. We have come upon the dancers just before the turn. The artist catches that dramatic moment - the pause, and the movement, the swirl and whirl of the costume. The artist's improvisational process, like that of a jazz musician, the timing beneath, the sensitive communication with his material, creates an intricate harmony. Other work presents divas - great stage personae - in performance.

Gil Franklin was born in England and grew up in Attleboro, MA. In high school he took an evening course in drawing with an instructor who taught at Rhode Island School of Design and who encouraged him to attend art school. Franklin attended RISD, continuing his studies at the Museo Nancianao in Mexico City and the American Academy in Rome. He first came to the Cape in 1938 to study painting with John Frazier at the Hawthorne school. He has served as Professor of Sculpture and Chairman and Dean of the Division of Fine Arts at the Rhode Island School of Design, and has taught at Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others. He lived in Wellfleet year-round since 1983 until his death in November of 2004.

Franklin had many one-person exhibitions including the Providence Art Club, Konegis Gallery, Boston, Tirca-Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, the University of Connecticut, Darmouth College, the Maryland Cultural Center, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Fine Art, Long Point Gallery and Berta Walker Gallery in Provincetown. He participated in group exhibitions at the Whitney Annual, Pennsylvania Academy of Art, Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the National Academy of Design, among others, and internationally at Nuova Corpine Gallery in Rome and the U.S. Embassy in Rome. Franklin received many public commissions for his sculpture including pieces for the Hallmark Collection, Kansas City, the Gannett Building, Washington, DC, the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, DC, the Harry S. Truman Memorial, Independence, Mo., and the Orpheus Ascending Fountain at the Frazier Memorial in Providence, RI. His outdoor sculpture, Seaforms, stands at the Wellfleet Public Library.

Franklin's work resides in the permanent collections of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Miami University, Miami, Ohio, the Walter P. Chrysler Collection, Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth, University of North Carolina, and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. He received the Prix de Rome in Sculpture, was a Fellow at the American Academy of Rome, and was named an H.M. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts at RISD. He served as a Trustee, American Academy in Rome, and the University of Pennsylvania and as Overseer at Boston University, School of Fine Arts, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.
Source: The Berta Walker Gallery

Source: The Berta Walker Gallery