Gilbert Franklin | |
---|---|
Born | Gilbert Alfred Franklin June 6, 1919 Birmingham, England |
Died | October 19, 2004 Wellfleet, Massachusetts, U.S. | (aged 85)
Other names | Gil Franklin |
Education | Cape Cod School of Art, Museo Nacional de Arte, American Academy in Rome |
Alma mater | Rhode Island School of Design |
Occupation(s) | Dean of college, sculptor, educator |
Known for | Sculpture, public art |
Spouse | Joyce Gertrude Swirsky |
Children | 1 |
Gilbert Alfred Franklin (1919–2004) was an English-born American sculptor and educator.[1] He was active in Providence, Rhode Island and Wellfleet, Massachusetts; and was best known for his public art sculptures.[2]
Gilbert Franklin was born on June 6, 1919, in Birmingham, England, and raised in Attleboro, Massachusetts.[1][3] His father was a jeweler.[3]
Franklin's earliest coursework was at the Hawthorne School of Art (now the Cape Cod School of Art), studying under John Robinson Frazier.[3] He attended Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), graduating with a BFA degree in 1941;[3] as well as completing studies at the Museo Nacional de Arte (in 1942) in Mexico City; and the American Academy in Rome (in 1949).[3] He had been a student of Waldemar Raemisch, and John Howard Benson.[4][1]
Franklin was married to Joyce Gertrude (née Swirsky) and together they had one daughter, art historian Nina Franklin Berson.[1][2]
Franklin served on the fine arts faculty at RISD between 1942 and 1985.[5] Two of his bronze works are prominent on the RISD campus, Orpheus Ascending (1963) and Daybreak (1968) the latter found on the "RISD beach".[5][6] He had been honored as the H.M. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts;[3] and served as a Dean of the fine arts department at RISD.[7] Additionally he taught at San Jose State University,[2] University of Pennsylvania,[3] Yale University,[3] and Harvard University.[3]
After his former professor Raemisch's death in 1955, Franklin completed Raemisch's 19 figure sculpture commission for public art in Philadelphia.[8]
In 1948, he was awarded the Rome Prize fellowship.[2][9] In 1959, he won the grand prize at the Boston Arts Festival for his work, Beach Figure.[10] Franklin was awarded the honorary title of National Academician (1991).[11]
Franklin died at the age of 85 on October 19, 2004, in his home in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.[2]