Book Description

Over the 20th Century Glasgow has been the home of significant woman artists producing very personal and individual work in a variety of different media. Among this group is Hannah Frank, whose artistic career spans 75 years. This revised edition, edited by the artist's niece, contains new material and recently discovered illustrations, along with extracts from Hannah Frank's personal diaries and albums - and a full catalogue of her black and white drawings of the 20s and 30s, and her later bronze sculptures.

From the Publisher

The Scottish Jewish Archives Centres is delighted to be publishing this edition of Hannah Frank’s work. Hannah, an early supporter of the Archives Centre, illustrated posters and leaflets for nearly every Glasgow Jewish institution from the late 1920s to the 1950s. The Archives Centre used many of Hannah’s drawings for its newsletters, and we are happy to be playing our part in bringing Hannah Frank’s work to a wider audience in the twenty-first century.

From the Author

People today are increasingly drawn to Hannah Frank's distinctive, Beardsley-like black and white drawings, and her graceful bronze sculptures. A touring exhibition, launched at Lancaster City Museum and Art Gallery, attracted much attention and interest from galleries around the UK.

This book provides a permanent record of that exhibition and more. Hannah Frank has given permission for the use of drawings from her private diary, while 15 'new' drawings which have been discovered over recent years via internet contacts, appeals in local papers, and in old issues of the Glasgow University Magazine, are included. Several of the works included in the book were found in an old suitcase, where they had lain unseen since the 1920s. Photographs of 16 'new' sculptures, never previously published, are revealed. Another first is the public appearance of early family sketches and self-portraits.

Also featured are some commissioned works for Glasgow Jewish institutions done in the 1930s and 1940s, and early pencil sketches and studies for some of the well-known black and white drawings.

The drawings and sculptures are arranged chronologically, so the reader gets a real feel for how Hannah developed as an artist.

Susan Ashworth, collections manager at Lancaster City Art Gallery, and curator of the touring exhibition, writes in her foreword to the new book: "Hannah Frank's work deserves to be seen widely. The powerful black and white compositions contain such energy - but it is almost at bursting point. By contrast, her sculptures draw you to them, invite you to touch and stroke them and are imbued with a different, quiet calm."

About the Author

Born in 1908 to Jewish parents who emigrated from Lithuania, Hannah Frank, 96 in August 2004, is the last living link to the end of the Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts period in Glasgow. She studied at Glasgow University and Glasgow School of Art during the 1920s and 30s, during which time she produced distinctive black and white drawings, then moved on to sculpture in the 1950s which she developed up until the late 1990s. Her drawings and also her later bronzes have featured in exhibitions of the Royal Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy.

Mentored by Benno Schotz, the Queen's Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland while at the Glasgow School of Art, Hannah Frank was encouraged in her career as a young schoolgirl by John Quinton Pringle, who although a well-known Glasgow artist of the time, never gave up the optician’s shop he ran close to Hannah’s father’s camera shop, Charles Frank Limited, Saltmarket, Glasgow.

Editor's postscript

The drawings of Hannah Frank would never have come to public knowledge if my mum, Phyllis Frank, had liked them back in 1948. She was very young when she married my father (Leo Frank – Hannah’s brother and a Preston GP).

Her memory is of "these weird things on the wall frightening the life out of me." She got my father to put them in the garage – thereby incurring Auntie Hannah’s wrath on her next visit. The drawings went back to Glasgow, were exhibited, and were much admired. As my mum got older – and as the drawings became more well known – she came to appreciate them: but of course it was too late and we never got the originals back. However we had a full set of prints, mostly in my father’s waiting room where they were (usually) admired by his patients.

I grew up with these images as part of my childhood, and have taken them with me wherever I’ve lived since.

Hannah Frank’s wish is, in the words of Longfellow, to "leave footsteps on the sands of time". I’m so glad I can now play my part in bringing my aunt’s work to a wider audience and by doing so, bring that wish to fruition, through this book and the exhibitions.

If you have a Hannah Frank original drawing or sculpture which is not credited in this volume, if you would like any further information about Hannah Frank and forthcoming exhibitions, or if you would like to see what prints, cards, or recasts of sculptures are available, I can be contacted through the this website.

Book Signing

Hannah Frank signing copies of 'Hannah Frank, A Glasgow Artist - Drawings and sculpture' at the Torrance Gallery, Edinburgh, August 2004 at the Glasgow Society of Women Artists Edinburgh Festival exhibition. (Some include Fiona Frank, Hannah Frank's niece and the book's editor.)

Barry Landman, Editor of 'Newark News' with Pamela Robertson, Senior Curator and Professor of Mackintosh Studies Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, at the Glasgow launch of the book which took place at Westacres, Newton Mearns, on Wednesday 1st September 2004.

A website dedicated to the work of Hannah Frank, respected Glasgow artist and sculptor. All images copyright Hannah Frank. Reproduction needs prior written permission. Contact Fiona Frank (tel/email below) with your requirements.

Please sign our Centenary Guest Book with your thoughts about Hannah Frank's art or any memories you'd like to share

Fiona Frank, tel (+44) (0)7778 737681 email  hannahfrankart@googlemail.com