{{Short description|American sculptor}} {{Infobox person | name = Gilbert Franklin | image = Gilbert A. Franklin 1974.png | caption = Franklin (c. 1974) | other_names = Gil Franklin | birth_name = Gilbert Alfred Franklin | birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|06|06}} | birth_place = Birmingham, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|10|19|1919|06|06}} | death_place = Wellfleet, Massachusetts, U.S. | education = Cape Cod School of Art,<br/> Museo Nacional de Arte,<br/> American Academy in Rome | alma_mater = Rhode Island School of Design | occupation = Dean of college, sculptor, educator | known_for = Sculpture, public art | spouse = Joyce Gertrude Swirsky | children = 1 }} '''Gilbert Alfred Franklin''' (1919–2004) was an English-born American sculptor and educator.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |others= American Academy in Rome, American Academy in Rome Society of Fellows|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LdYLAQAAMAAJ |title=The Centennial Directory of the American Academy in Rome |last1=Kohl |first1=Benjamin G. |last2=Linker |first2=Wayne A. |last3=Kavelman |first3=Buff Suzanne|date=1995 |publisher=American Academy in Rome |isbn=978-1-879549-02-9 |language=en}}</ref> He was active in Providence, Rhode Island and Wellfleet, Massachusetts; and was best known for his public art sculptures.<ref name=":3" />
== Early life and education == Gilbert Franklin was born on June 6, 1919, in Birmingham, England, and raised in Attleboro, Massachusetts.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Gilbert Franklin |url=http://provincetownartistregistry.com/F/franklin_gilbert.htm |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=Provincetown Artist Registry}}</ref> His father was a jeweler.<ref name=":1" />
Franklin's earliest coursework was at the Hawthorne School of Art (now the Cape Cod School of Art), studying under John Robinson Frazier.<ref name=":1" /> He attended Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), graduating with a BFA degree in 1941;<ref name=":1" /> as well as completing studies at the Museo Nacional de Arte (in 1942) in Mexico City; and the American Academy in Rome (in 1949).<ref name=":1" /> He had been a student of Waldemar Raemisch, and John Howard Benson.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 8, 1955 |title=Student Completing Raemisch Sculptures |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/620422660/ |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Pasadena Independent |page=28 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
Franklin was married to Joyce Gertrude (née Swirsky) and together they had one daughter, art historian Nina Franklin Berson.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
== Career == Franklin served on the fine arts faculty at RISD between 1942 and 1985.<ref name=":2">{{Cite magazine |date=2003 |title=Franklin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=itFUAAAAMAAJ |magazine=American Craft |language=en |publisher=American Craft Council |volume=63 |pages=66}}</ref> Two of his bronze works are prominent on the RISD campus, ''Orpheus Ascending'' (1963) and ''Daybreak'' (1968) the latter found on the "RISD beach".<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Van Siclen |first=Bill |date=September 2, 2015 |title=5 outdoor sculptures in Providence |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/entertainment/local/2015/09/03/5-outdoor-sculptures-in-providence/33582609007/ |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=The Providence Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> He had been honored as the H.M. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts;<ref name=":1" /> and served as a Dean of the fine arts department at RISD.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5PtHQ0Y4SMC |title=Newsletter |publisher=Supply Systems Command, Navy Department |year=1991 |pages=8 |language=en |chapter=Bas-Relief At Navy Memorial Honors Supply Corps}}</ref> Additionally he taught at San Jose State University,<ref name=":3" /> University of Pennsylvania,<ref name=":1" /> Yale University,<ref name=":1" /> and Harvard University.<ref name=":1" />
After his former professor Raemisch's death in 1955, Franklin completed Raemisch's 19 figure sculpture commission for public art in Philadelphia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 August 1955 |title=Student is completing Raemisch sculptures |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/12967246/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Lebanon Daily News |page=9 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1948, he was awarded the Rome Prize fellowship.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 15, 1948 |title=3 N.E. Students Win Rome Fellowships |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/433561932/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The Boston Globe, Associated Press |page=4 |language=en}}</ref> In 1959, he won the grand prize at the Boston Arts Festival for his work, ''Beach Figure''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 8, 1959 |title=SCULPTURE WINS PRIZE; Work by Gilbert Franklin Is Honored at Boston Festival |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/06/08/81867239.html?zoom=16 |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=Times Machine |publisher=The New York Times |page=29 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Franklin was awarded the honorary title of National Academician (1991).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gilbert Alfred Franklin |url=https://nationalacademy.emuseum.com/people/493/gilbert-alfred-franklin/objects |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=National Academicians eMuseum}}</ref>
Franklin died at the age of 85 on October 19, 2004, in his home in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Long |first=Tom |date=October 30, 2004 |title=Gilbert Franklin, sculptor noted for public works; at 85 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/443444385/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The Boston Globe |page=27 |language=en |issn=0743-1791}}</ref>
<gallery class="center" mode="packed" widths="124" heights="124" caption="Gilbert Franklin's work"> File:Abraham Lincoln statue, Roger Williams Park, Providence, Rhode Island.jpg|alt=Abraham Lincoln statue (1954)|''Abraham Lincoln'' (1954) File:Orpheus Ascending, Frazier Terrace.jpg|''Orpheus Ascending'' (1963) File:Rhode Island School of Design beach.jpg|alt=Daybreak (1968)|''Daybreak'' (1968) File:Gilbert A. Franklin and Truman statue.jpg|alt=Gilbert A. Franklin posing with Truman statue (c. 1975)|with Truman statue (c. 1975) File:Harry S. Truman statue -Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, USA-18Jan2009.jpg|Harry S. Truman statue (1991) </gallery>
== Public works == * ''Abraham Lincoln'' statue (1954), Roger Williams Park, Providence, Rhode Island; gift of the Henry W. Harvey Trust<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fenton |first=Josh |date=June 29, 2020 |title=RI's Statues - A Glowing Tribute to White Men, Animals and Very Few Others |url=https://www.golocalprov.com/news/RIs-Statues-A-Glowing-Tribute-to-White-Men-Animals-and-Very-Few-Others |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=GoLocalProv |language=en}}</ref> * ''Orpheus Ascending'' (1963), Frazier Terrace, Rhode Island School of Design campus, Providence, Rhode Island<ref name=":4" /> * ''Daybreak'' (1968), Rhode Island School of Design campus, Providence, Rhode Island<ref name=":4" /> * ''Harry S. Truman'' statue (1976), Independence Square, Independence, Missouri<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVNiaQK-tasC |title=Library of Congress Subject Headings |publisher=Library of Congress |year=2010 |volume=2, Edition 32 |pages=3435 |language=en}}</ref> * ''U.S. Navy Memorial bas-relief'' (1991), U.S. Navy Memorial, Washington, DC<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Elbich |first=Chris |title=US Navy Memorial (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/000/us-navy-memorial.htm |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior |language=en}}</ref> * ''Seaforms'' (1993), Wellfleet Public Library, Wellfleet, Massachusetts<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 24, 1993 |title=Exhibit: Wellfleet Public Library |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/440680070/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The Boston Globe |page=122 |language=en}}</ref>
== Exhibitions == * 1993, ''Celebrating Long Point'', group exhibition, Noel Fine Arts, Bronxville, New York<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zimmer |first=William |date=1993-01-24 |title=Artists-Cum-Beach Denizens Have Come In From the Cold |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/24/nyregion/art-artistscumbeach-denizens-have-come-in-from-the-cold.html |access-date=2022-03-04 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Zimmer |first=William |date=1993-01-24 |title=Shades of Summer in Katonah, Timeless Works in Bronxville |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/24/nyregion/art-shades-of-summer-in-katonah-timeless-works-in-bronxville.html |access-date=2022-03-04 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * 2004, solo, Picture Gallery, Cornish, New Hampshire<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 29, 2004 |title=Saint-Gaudens to open May 29 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/536363047/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Rutland Daily Herald |page=9 |language=en}}</ref> * 2016, ''The Bridge at the End of the Road'', solo exhibition, John Spoor Broome Library Gallery, CSU Channel Islands (CI)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gregory |first=Kim Lamb |date=October 12, 2016 |title=Work of internationally-recognized American artist Gilbert Franklin opening at CI |url=https://www.csuci.edu/news/releases/2016-gilbertfranklin.htm |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=CSU Channel Islands |archive-date=2022-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304221243/https://www.csuci.edu/news/releases/2016-gilbertfranklin.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Gilbert Franklin}} * [https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-gilbert-franklin-11628 Oral history interview with Gilbert A. Franklin, 1978 April 13] from Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Gilbert}} Category:1919 births Category:2004 deaths Category:People from Wellfleet, Massachusetts Category:Artists from Providence, Rhode Island Category:American male sculptors Category:Rhode Island School of Design alumni Category:Rhode Island School of Design faculty Category:National Academy of Design members Category:People from Attleboro, Massachusetts Category:20th-century American male artists Category:20th-century American sculptors