Albert Franck

Albert Jacques Franck (2 April 1899 – 28 February 1973) was a Canadian artist. He is known for his realistic paintings^[1] of Toronto winter scenes,^[2] dilapidated neighbourhoods^[3][4] and back lanes.^[5][6][7] His detailed paintings provide a historical record of conditions in some of Toronto's once less affluent neighbourhoods.^[8][9]

Albert Franck
Born	Albert Jacques Franck (1899-04-02)April 2, 1899 Middelburg, Zeeland
Died	February 28, 1973(1973-02-28) (aged 73) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Education	self-trained
Spouse	Florence Vale

Early life

Franck was born at Middelburg, the Netherlands.^[10] As a young man he was a champion swimmer.^[11] He moved to Canada in 1926, making his living as a swimming instructor and by working in factories^[5] He later worked in an art gallery and sold picture frames.^[12]

Career

Franck opened a studio in his small home on Gerrard Street in Toronto. He began by hanging some of his paintings in a local restaurant,^[5] and in this way his work became locally known. In the 1950s he and his wife, artist Florence Vale,^[13] developed the studio into a gathering place for the arts community. They hosted and supported the work of many young local artists,^[5][14][15] particularly those participating in the emerging Toronto abstract art scene, including Joyce Wieland^[16] and Kazuo Nakamura.^[17] Franck and Vale later moved to a larger home, which also served as their studio and gallery, on Hazelton Street^[18] as part of a general migration of the art community to the Yorkville area during the 1960s.^[19]

Franck's first exhibition was presented at York University in 1963.^[20] In 1973, he held an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Franck also participated in a number of group exhibitions.

Franck's paintings are in the collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario,^[21] the Museum London,^[22] the National Exhibition Centre in St. Catharines,^[23] the New Brunswick Museum,^[24] and McMaster University Art Gallery.^[25]

He was an Associate member of the Royal Canadian Academy (1961-1970), and a member of the Ontario Society of Artists (1958), the Canadian Society of Watercolour Painters, and the Canadian Society of Graphic Artists.^[26]

Fellow artist Harold Town, a close friend,^[27] wrote two books celebrating Franck's art.^[28][29]

Franck also taught art in a local high school^[30] and played the cello.^[31] He and his wife sent small pieces of their art as greeting cards to friends and relatives, and some of these have survived.^[32]

Franck died in Toronto on February 28, 1973.^[6] A street in the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood of Toronto is named for him.^[33]