| Ruth Francken | |
|---|---|
.png) Ruth Francken discussing her work, 1999 | |
| Born | Ruth Steinreich 1924 Prague, Czechoslovakia |
| Died | 2006 Paris, France |
| Nationality | Czech-American |
| Known for | Sculpture, Painting |
Ruth Francken (1924 – 12 September 2006) was a Czech-American sculptor, painter, and furniture designer who was mostly active in Paris.
Biography
Born in Prague in 1926, Ruth Francken's life and career would span over six decades, two continents, and more than half a dozen countries. After studying painting from 1939-1940 at the Ruskin School in Oxford, England, she moved to New York, where she studied at the Art Students League of New York. After becoming an American citizen in 1942, she worked as a textile designer until 1949, when she left the United States for Europe. After a two-year period in Venice (1950-1952), she moved to Paris, where she lived until her death in 2006, save for two years in the 1960s and 1970s when she worked out of Berlin and Santa Barbara, California.
Artwork and style
Ruth Francken was considered an Abstract Expressionist in her early career, until around 1964. After this point she began working with object sculptures, collage, and different textiles and techniques, and her art took on a more surrealist and pop-art aesthetic. She focuses heavily on problems and disconnects in communication. Her work was featured in an international exhibit, initially created by Tate Modern in London, titled "The World Goes Pop."
References
- Stonard, John-Paul. Francken, Ruth. Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
- Oxford Art Online, Benezit Dictionary of Artists: Francken, Ruth
- Morgan J, Frigeri F, Coustou E, Tate Modern (Gallery). The world goes pop. New Haven: Yale University Press; 2015.
Further reading
- Stonard, John-Paul. "Francken, Ruth." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, (accessed 16 February 2012).
- Lyotard, Jean-François (1991). "Sear of Silence". In: Jean-François Lyotard, Miscellaneous Texts II: Contemporary Artists. Leuven University Press, 2012, pp. 4102–423. ISBN 978-90-586-7886-7.
- Lyotard, Jean-François (1983) "The Story of Ruth". In The Lyotard Reader ed. Andrew Benjamin, Oxford: Blackwell, 1989. pp. 250–264. ISBN 978-0631163398
External links
- Entry for Ruth Francken on the Union List of Artist Names
- Entry for Ruth Francken on the costis.org website
- Entry for Ruth Francken on the Tate website
- Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States
- American furniture designers
- American women sculptors
- Painters from Prague
- 1924 births
- 2006 deaths
- 20th-century American sculptors
- 20th-century American painters
- 20th-century American women painters
- Czechoslovak expatriates in the United Kingdom
- 21st-century American women
- 20th-century American women sculptors