Neo-classical paintings were reintroduced to the modern art world by Richard Franklin. His art is inexorably linked with the Old Masters of the seventeenth century and the neo-classical school of paintings. In the late 1980's and early 1990's Franklin pioneered a movement back to the classics that art dealers, galleries, designers and other artist all over the nation emulated.
Richard Franklin was fascinated with the human figure. He went to life-drawing classes regularly, taught portrait-in-oil, worked toward mastery in sculpture, etching, photography and neo-classical painting. Franklin spent several years of his childhood in European countries. He spent his youth in awe of the fresco-style washes, textures and contrasts in paintings and murals of the Old Masters. He did not realize this early training would have a profound affect on his choice of career later in life.
In Franklin's adult years he spent an entire year in Europe studying each brushstroke of original art of Vermeer, Bougoureau, Bastian-Le Page and Rembrandt. On March 27, 1990 he wrote in his journal, "I asked a girl that was copying a painting in the Museums of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium about how to get permission to copy a painting." It was then that his true love of art emerged. He no longer wanted to rejoin the art of this century. His painting took on a new meaning and a definite turn.
Richard Franklin appreciated what time could do to canvasses. The appearance of an old crumbling wall adds character to his work and incorporates some faux decrepitude in his strokes. Franklin has earned quite a reputation for his figure studies, which were brought to life through use of "casein", a milk based pigment that has been used for centuries. Add some cracks, peels and Franklin paintings are in perfect verisimilitude. His paintings reflect heart and soul on every canvas. He recaptures the enduring beauty and balance of a timeless curve of the human body. He expresses a supreme attraction, kindness and an exemplary spirit of the human figure.
Poetry of the nineteenth century was a great inspiration to Franklin. He titled several of his paintings after characters: Thisbe, Eos, Donna Velata and Flora. He was also captivated by Greek Mythology. He painted the emotions he felt from each story, such as: Aphrodite, Pan's Song, Electra and Adonis. Franklin was a sensitive and deep thinking man. He depicted the emotions and feelings of each figure he painted. His work has a dimensional look, a softness of color and a feeling of solitude and repose.
Richard Franklin was killed in a small plane accident in 1997, at the peak of his artistic career. He was 35 years of age. Richard left us with numerous original paintings and a fine graphics program yet to be completed. Franklin's journey may have been shortened, but his memory will never die because he will always live through the images of his timeless, neo-classical works of art. We continue to celebrate the art and life of a great talent, Richard Franklin.