biografia di Franklin Chenault WATKINS (1894-1972)

Birth place: NYC

Addresses: Plymouth Meeting, PA; Naples, FL

Profession: Painter, teacher

Studied: Univ. Virginia: Univ. Pennsylvania; PAFA, 1913-18.

Exhibited: PAFA Ann., 1920-68 (gold, 1941, 1944; prizes, 1943, 1954); NAD, 1927; Corcoran Gal. biennials, 1928-61 (12 times; incl. gold medal, 1939); Carnegie Intl., 1931 (1st prize for Suicide in Costume"); Second Inter-Am. Biennial Mexico, Salon Honor, Palacio Bellas Artes, 1960 (solo); WMAA; Kennedy Gals., NYC, 1970s. Awards: AIC, 1938 (prize); GGE, 1939 (prize); Paris Salon, 1937 (medal); first prize & Lehman Prize, Carnegie Int., 1931; MoMA, 1950 (retrospective); PMA, 1964 (retrospective)."

Member: Assoc. Am. Acad. Design, 1951; NA, 1957; NIAL; Am. Philos. Soc.

Work: MMA; MoMA; WMAA; PMA; PMG; PAFA; CGA; Smith College; Courtauld Inst., London, murals, Rodin Mus., Paris; Detroit IA; Albright-Knox AG, Buffalo.

Comments: Known for his expressionistic realism from the mid-1920s through the 1930s. After WWII he began exploring religious themes. He was also a portraitist. Teaching: Tyler Sch. Art (1940-43); PAFA, 25 years, 1943-retired, mem. bd. dir., 1970-on.

Sources: WW73; Baigell, Dictionary; Ben Wolf, Watkins, Portrait of Painter (Univ. Penn. Press); Watkins" (film), Phila. Mus. Art; Andrew Carnduff Ritchie, Franklin C. Watkins (exh. cat., MoMA, 1950); Falk, Exh. Record Series.