Frank N. Wilcox

Infobox Artist
bgcolour = #EEDD82
name = Frank N. Wilcox


imagesize = 200px
caption = Frank N. Wilcox 1 photographic print: b&w; 13 x 14 cm. Courtesy of the Frank N. Wilcox papers, 1906-1976, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
birthdate = October 3, 1887
location = Cleveland, Ohio
deathdate = April 17, 1964
deathplace = Cleveland, Ohio
field = Watercolor Painting, Drawing, Printmaking
training = Cleveland School of Art, 1906-1910, taught 1913-1953

Frank Nelson Wilcox (1887 - 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of watercolor. Wilcox is described as the "Dean of Cleveland School painters," [cite web
title = Frank Nelson Wilcox Artist Bio
work = Cleveland School
publisher = Kokoon Arts Gallery
url = http://www.wgsproductions.com/about_cleveland.php?id=Wilcox
format = html
accessdate = 2008-02-03] though some sources give this appellation to Henry Keller.

Life

Frank Nelson Wilcox, Jr. was born on October 3, 1887 to Frank Nelson Wilcox and Jessie Fremont Snow Wilcox at 61 Linwood Street in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, a prominent Cleveland laywer, died at home in 1904 shortly before Wilcox' 17th birthday. His brother, lawyer and publisher Owen N. Wilcox, was president of the Gates Legal Publishing Company or The Gates Press. [cite book
last = Wilcox
first = Owen N.
title = History of the Family of Benjamin Snow
publisher = The Gates Legal Publishing Company
date = 1907
location = Cleveland, Ohio
pages = 305-315] His sister Ruth Wilcox was a respected librarian.

In 1906 Wilcox enrolled from the Cleveland School of Art under the tutelage of Henry Keller, Louis Rorimer, and Frederick Gottwald. [cite web
title = Wilcox, Frank
work = [http://www.clevelandartandhistory.org/HTMLPages/artists/artistsalpha.html Artists]
publisher = [http://www.clevelandartandhistory.org/HTMLPages/index.html Cleveland Art and History]
url = http://www.clevelandartandhistory.org/HTMLPages/artists/Wilcox.htm
format = html
accessdate = 2008-02-03] He also attended Keller's Berlin Heights summer school from 1909. After graduating in 1910, Wilcox traveled and studied in Europe. He joined the Cleveland School of Art faculty in 1913. Among his students were Lawrence Edwin Blazey, Carl Gaertner, Paul Travis, and Charles Burchfield. Around this time Wilcox became associated with Cowan Pottery.

In 1916 Wilcox married fellow artist Florence Bard, and they spent most of their honeymoon painting in Berlin Heights with Keller. [cite book
last = Robinson
first = William H.
authorlink =
others = Nannette V. Maciejunes, Ruth Dancyger, and Frank N. Wilcox
title = A Brush with Light: Watercolor Painters of Northeast Ohio
publisher = Cleveland Artists Foundation
year = 1998
location = Cleveland, Ohio
isbn = 09639562-6-4] They had one daughter, Mary. [cite web
last = Grabowski
first = John J.
coauthors = David D. Van Tassel
title = Wilcox, Frank Nelson
work = Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
publisher = Case Western Reserve University
date = 1997-07-23
url = http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=WFN
format = html
accessdate = 2008-02-03] He joined the Cleveland Society of Artists in 1918 and would later serve as its president.

Wilcox died on April 17, 1964, having taught at the Cleveland School of Art (now Cleveland Institute of Art or CIA) for over 40 years. Today CIA awards a scholarship prize in his name to students majoring in printmaking.

Work

Wilcox was influenced by Keller's innovative watercolor techniques, and from 1910 to 1916 they experimented together with impressionism and post-impressionism. Wilcox soon developed his own signature style in the American Scene or Regionalist tradition of the early 20th century. [cite web
last = Conley
first = Gregory
title = Frank Wilcox
work = Famous Artists: Watercolor masters
publisher = [http://www.watercolorpainting.com/index.htm Watercolorpainting.com]
url = http://www.watercolorpainting.com/famousartist/Wilcox.htm
format = html
accessdate = 2008-02-03]

Wilcox wrote and illustrated "Ohio Indian Trails" in 1933 [cite book
last = Wilcox
first = Frank N.
authorlink = Frank N. Wilcox
title = Ohio Indian Trails
edition = 3rd edition
publisher = The Gates Press
origyear = 1933
year = 1934
location = Cleveland, Ohio] , which was on the New York Times Best Seller list. This book was edited and reprinted in 1970 by William A. McGill [cite book
last = Wilcox
first = Frank N.
authorlink = Frank N. Wilcox
others = William A. McGill, ed.
title = Ohio Indian Trails: a Pictorial Survey of the Indian Trails of Ohio Arranged From the Works of the Late

Frank Wilcox |
publisher = Kent State University Press
date = 1970
location = Kent, Ohio
isbn = 0-87338-109-2] . McGill also edited and reprinted Wilcox' "Canals of the Old Northwest" [cite book
last = Wilcox
first = Frank N.
authorlink = Frank N. Wilcox
title = Canals of the Old Northwest
publisher = The Gates Press
location = Cleveland, Ohio ] in 1969. [cite book
last = Wilcox
first = Frank N.
authorlink = Frank N. Wilcox
others = William A. McGill, ed.
title = The Ohio Canals
publisher = Kent State University Press
year = 1969
location = Kent, Ohio
isbn = 0-8357-9371-0]

The Cleveland Museum of Art lists 36 Wilcox paintings in its collection. [cite web
title = Frank Wilcox
work = Collections
publisher = The Cleveland Museum of Art
url = http://www.clevelandart.org/Explore/artist.asp?artistLetter=W&recNo=103
format = html
accessdate = 2008-02-03] One variant of his 1928 still images "Fisherman of Percé, Quebec" is reposited with the U.S. Library of Congress.

Wilcox displayed over 250 works at Cleveland's annual May Show. He received numerous awards, including the Penton Medal for as "The Omnibus, Paris" (1920), "Fish Tug on Lake Erie" (1921), "Blacksmith Shop" (1922), and "The Gravel Pit" (1922). [cite web
title = May Show Catalog
publisher = Ingalls Library: Cleveland Museum of Art
url = http://library.clevelandart.org/fex/mayshow/index_basic.php
format = html
accessdate = 2008-02-03] Other paintings include "The Trailing Fog" (1929), "Under the Big Top" (1930), and "Ohio Landscape" (1932).

References

External links

* [http://www.clevelandart.org/ The Cleveland Museum of Art]
* [http://www.cia.edu/ The Cleveland Institute of Art]
* [http://www.askart.com/askart/w/frank_nelson_wilcox/frank_nelson_wilcox.aspx Wilcox, Frank Nelson on Ask ART]