Frank Van Sloun

FRANK VAN SLOUN (1879-1938)

"American Realist"

Frank Van Sloun was born in St Paul, MN on Nov. 4, 1879. During his youth, his interest was divided between sports and art. He studied for two years at the St Paul School of Fine Arts, signed with the St Paul team to play professional baseball, then abruptly decided in 1900 to go to New York to pursue an art career. There he studied at the Art Students League under Robert Henri and at the Chase School. While there, he allied himself with the Society of Independent Artists and helped organize their first exhibition in 1910. On his first visit to San Francisco in 1907-08 he spent six months and in 1911 settled there. He taught at the CSFA (1917), for one year at the ASL in NYC (1919), and in 1926 joined the faculty at UC Berkeley while maintaining a studio in his home in San Francisco. During the last decade of his life, he gained wide fame as an artist and an educator. He died in San Francisco on Aug. 27, 1938 while preparing murals for the Golden Gate International Exposition. An adherent of the Ash Can School, Van Sloun's works were inspired by typical Americans in everyday life. During his career he used such varied styles as Impressionism, Pointillism, and Realism. His oeuvre includes oils, pastels, and tempera compositions as well as numerous etchings and monotypes. Member: Internationale des Beaux Arts et des Lettres (1909); SFAA; Calif. Society of Etchers; Society of Mural Painters; Carmel AA; Bohemian Club. Exh: SFAA, 1908-38; PPIE, 1915 (bronze medal); Bohemian Club, 1922; Galerie Beaux Arts (SF), 1926; GGIE, 1939; CPLH, 1942 (solo); Triton Museum (Santa Clara), 1968 (solo); CHS, 1975 (solo). In: CSL; Mills College (Oakland); Canterbury Hotel (SF); Elks Club (SF); Bohemian Club (murals); CHS; State Library and Court Bldg (Sacramento); Mark Hopkins Hotel (SF), Room of the Dons (with Maynard Dixon); Oakland Museum.

NUDE IN VAN SLOAN'S STUDIO