Frank B. A. Linton
Encyclopedia
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. Likely, a closeted gay man, he lived with pianist Samuel Meyers for more than 30 years.
Education and career
Linton entered the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsPennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
in 1885 (at age 14), and studied under Thomas Eakins
Thomas Eakins
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator...
. Eakins was forced to resign in February 1886. Linton remained at PAFA until 1888, then studied again with Eakins at the Art Students' League of Philadelphia
Art Students' League of Philadelphia
Art Students' League of Philadelphia was a short-lived, co-operative art school formed in reaction to Thomas Eakins's February 1886 forced-resignation from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts...
. In 1890, he was accepted at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
in Paris, and studied there under Eakins's teachers, Jean-Léon Gérôme
Jean-Léon Gérôme
Jean-Léon Gérôme was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax.-Life:Jean-Léon Gérôme was born...
and Léon Bonnat
Léon Bonnat
Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat was a French painter.He was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 he lived in Madrid, where his father owned a bookshop. While tending his father's shop, he copied engravings of works by the Old Masters, developing a passion for drawing...
. He then studied at the Academie Julien under Benjamin Constant
Benjamin Constant
Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque was a Swiss-born French nobleman, thinker, writer and politician.-Biography:...
, Jean Paul Laurens, and William Adolphe Bouguereau. His claims to serious consideration, particularly in portraiture and figure work, were soon recognized and at the age of twenty-three he was awarded the silver medal for his exhibit at the American Art Exhibition. His first portrait hung in Paris, that of Dr. J. L. Borsch of Philadelphia, won for him enormous acclaim. He returned to Philadelphia around 1896.
In addition to portraits, he painted landscapes and modeled sculpture. He sometimes worked as a copyist of paintings, including American colonial and federal portraits. He exhibited at the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
, and the 1904 St. Louis Exposition
St. Louis Exposition
St. Louis Exposition can refer to either:*Saint Louis Exposition *Louisiana Purchase Exposition...
. In 1917, he had a one-man show at the Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
in Washington, DC. .
He exhibited regularly at PAFA and at the conservative Paris Salon. His 1922 portrait of a clown applying greasepaint, The Last Touch (Le Denier Retouche), was rejected for exhibition at PAFA, but won a bronze medal at the 1927 Paris Salon, was bought for the collection of the Musée du Luxembourg
Musée du Luxembourg
Musée du Luxembourg is a museum in Paris, France. It occupies the east wing of the Palais du Luxembourg, whose matching west wing originally housed Ruben's Marie de' Medici cycle. Since 2000 it has been run by the French Ministry of Culture and the Senate and is devoted to temporary exhibitions...
, and hung at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
. He was decorated by the French government with the rank of Officier d'Academie. Mr. Linton is also a member of the Internationale Union des Beaux-arts et Lettres, to which only one member in the entire world is elected each year. He received this honor in 1913, when his name was enrolled among the illustrious greats comprising the membership of the Internationale Union des Beaux-Arts et Lettres, including such personages as Kipling, Rodin
Rodin
- People :* Auguste Rodin , French sculptor, for whom is named:** The Musée Rodin in Paris, France** The Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA** The Rodin Gallery in Seoul, South Korea** Rodin , a crater on the Moon...
, Degas, Anatole France
Anatole France
Anatole France , born François-Anatole Thibault, , was a French poet, journalist, and novelist. He was born in Paris, and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire. He was a successful novelist, with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters...
, Renoir
Renoir
-People with the surname Renoir :* Pierre-Auguste Renoir , French painter* Pierre Renoir , French actor and son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir* Jean Renoir , French film director and son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir...
and many more.
Samuel Meyers
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
violinist Hedda van den Beemt, the subject of his painting Music (1904), which features Meyers as the pianist.
At the studio, Linton hosted a 1924 exhibition of paintings by fellow Eakins students Charles Bregler, David Wilson Jordan and Susan Macdowell Eakins
Susan Macdowell Eakins
Susan Hannah Macdowell Eakins was an American artist and wife of Thomas Eakins. She was the fifth of eight children of a Philadelphia engraver, well known in the artistic community...
(Eakins's widow), along with his own.
From 1925 to 1933, he and Meyers shared a studio at 2037 Delancey Street. Meyers died in July 1933.
Legacy
Linton, Thomas Anshutz, and Samuel MurraySamuel Murray
Samuel Aloysius Murray was an American sculptor, and protégé of the painter Thomas Eakins.-Murray and Eakins:...
were the Eakins students who probably had the most successful careers. Mr. Linton's facility and versatility, which have often been remarked, are only superficial aspects of his art, which is profound in its inspiration and superlative in its expression. He is not only a brilliant draftsman and colorist, a master of the brush but also possesses the keen psychological insight, which is the hallmark of genius in portraiture, and a freshness of outlook which reflects the rare quality of his creative imagination and lends individuality to his work. Among present-day artists his gifts are unsurpassed and they have won for him the highest honors in the world of art. At one time, Linton reportedly commanded $5,000 to $10,000 for a portrait, but he died insolvent, and his effects were sold to pay creditors.
Selected works
- Pickling Gherkins (c.1893-96), inscribed "F. B. A. Linton, Paris."
- Christ Being Raised from the Dead (c.1895), Academie Julien, Paris, France.
- Portrait of Dr. James McCrea (c.1900).
- Portrait of Dr. Matthew Woods (c.1908).
- Portrait of Dr. Perry S. Allen (before 1910).
- Portrait of Mrs. Perry S. Allen, (before 1910).
- Portrait of Samuel Meyers (by 1912), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsPennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsThe Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. - Portrait of Dr. William H. Greene (c.1912).
- Portrait of William L. Austin, Esq. (c.1912).
- Self-portrait (1915), University of DelawareUniversity of DelawareThe university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...
, Newark, Delaware. - Portrait of Dr. James Cornelius Wilson (1917), College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
- Portrait of Ruth St. Denis (c.1918).
- Portrait of Mrs. Edwin R. Linton, the Artist's Mother (by 1919), University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. - Portrait of Thomas B. Smith, Mayor of Philadelphia (c.1920).
- Portrait of President Warren G. Harding (1920s), St. Charles Borromeo SeminarySt. Charles Borromeo SeminarySt. Charles Borromeo Seminary is the seminary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Named for Charles Borromeo, it is located in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania,...
, Overbrook, Pennsylvania. - Portrait of Cardinal Dennis Joseph Dougherty (c.1921), Cardinal Dougherty High SchoolCardinal Dougherty High SchoolCardinal Dougherty High School was a private, Roman Catholic high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. - Portrait of Professor Herbert Spencer Jennings (1921), Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins UniversityThe Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, Baltimore, Maryland. - Portrait of General John J. Pershing (1921), Les InvalidesLes InvalidesLes Invalides , officially known as L'Hôtel national des Invalides , is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's...
, Paris, France. - Portrait of Admiral William S. Benson (c.1921).
- The Last Touch (Le Denier Retouche) (1922), Musée du LuxembourgMusée du LuxembourgMusée du Luxembourg is a museum in Paris, France. It occupies the east wing of the Palais du Luxembourg, whose matching west wing originally housed Ruben's Marie de' Medici cycle. Since 2000 it has been run by the French Ministry of Culture and the Senate and is devoted to temporary exhibitions...
, Paris, France. Won a bronze medal at the 1927 Paris Salon. - The Silver Heel: Portrait of Agnes Allen (1923), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsPennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsThe Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. - Portrait of Mabel Linton Williams (1924), Corcoran Gallery of ArtCorcoran Gallery of ArtThe Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
, Washington, DC. - Self-portrait (c.1935), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsPennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsThe Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. - Portrait of Senator Daniel Oren Hastings (1939), Delaware State CapitolDelaware State CapitolThe Delaware Legislative Hall is the state capitol building of Delaware located in the state capital of Dover on Court Street. It houses the chambers and offices of the Delaware General Assembly.-Old State House:...
, Dover, Delaware.
Undated
- Cows in front of a Barn.
- An Evening's Reminiscence.
- Italian Girl, University of DelawareUniversity of DelawareThe university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...
, Newark, Delaware. - Seated Country Girl, University of DelawareUniversity of DelawareThe university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...
, Newark, Delaware. - Samuel Meyers at the Piano (destroyed), University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. - Veiled Lady, University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. - Portrait of James Cowart, University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. - Portrait of David Ross, University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. - Portrait of Mrs. John Partenheimer, University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. - The Romance of Salome, University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.