Hans Frank - White peacock

Hans Frank, painter and graphic artist, was born on May 13, 1884 in Vienna, Austria, the firstborn of twins with his brother, artist Leo Frank. He studied at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) under Professor Anton von Kenner from 1902 to 1906. After a year of compulsory military service, he began his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1907 under Professor Franz Rumpler. At the end of his studies in 1911, his work was included in an exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts, and he received a one-year imperial state grant. This enabled him to travel and study extensively throughout Europe.

Hans Frank married Lena Laschitz in 1913, but the following year he was called up for military service because of the outbreak of World War I. He was appointed as an officer in Galicia and the Dolomites, where he served as a captain in the mountain artillery. From 1917 until the end of the war he was stationed in Brixlegg, in the state of Tyrol. In late 1924 or early 1925 he moved with his family, which by then included two sons and a daughter, to Vienna.
Hans Frank exhibited with and was a member of the Künstlerhaus in Vienna, the Society of Graver-Printers in Colour, and the Printmakers Society of California. His work was shown in exhibitions of the Secession in Vienna in 1906, 1907, 1913, and 1941. Other exhibitions in which his work was included include the International Exhibition of Fine Arts in Rome in 1911, the International Exhibition of Modern Graphic Art in Florence in 1927, the National Gallery of Canada in 1930, and from 1938 to 1944 the Great German Art Exhibition at the Haus der Deutschen Kunst in Munich.
According to the German Art Gallery, Hans Frank received numerous awards, including the Gold State Medal in 1908, the Silver Medal of the City of Graz, the Royal Saxon Medal for Art and Science, the Staatliche Ehrenpreis, the Prize of the City of Vienna in 1931, the Goldene Ehrenmedaille des Wiener Künstlerhauses in 1934, the Waldmüller Prize for Painting and the Kriehuber-Preis der Stadt Wien in 1944. His work is included in the Österreichische Galerie, the Städtische Sammlungen im Rathaus, the Albertina and the Städtische Galerie Nuremberg.
Hans Frank died on December 19, 1948 in Salzburg.
The following is an excerpt from *Studio-Talk* 1913 (pages 322 to 325):
"Hans Frank has exhibited at the Secession for the past few years, but it was not until last autumn, when his varied works were brought together for the first time, that the broad scope of his art could be fully appreciated. The collection included several large landscape paintings remarkable for their breadth and depth, as well as numerous etchings, aquatints and woodcuts, mainly with animals and landscapes as subjects. Birds are his favourites, and his treatment of them, based on meticulous observation, immediately impressed both critics and the public. He cuts his own blocks, chooses the wood himself and has his tools made to his own specifications. As a child he loved animals and began to study their behaviour. He became a regular visitor to the zoo in Schönbrunn. Later he kept birds in his studio so that he could be closer to them and learn more about their habits."

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