Albert Franck (Albert Jacques Franck)

1899-1973

Albert Franck was born in Middleburg, Holland. He was interested in art at a young age and was very serious about the violin, an instrument he loved. He dabbled in painting and water colours but his father, a well-established jeweller and amateur painter, discouraged him from becoming an artist. A troublesome student, Franck was sent to various strict boarding schools but was later deemed an incorrigible. When the First World War started, he was drafted by the Dutch army and served on border patrol. Following his service, he worked in the area of Middleburg but in 1919, after years of a tenuous relationship with his father, Franck quit violin, left Holland and went on a series of ventures in Indonesia, California and Belgium, where he became the long distance swimming champion in 1924. After working on a variety jobs, he made his way to Canada in 1926.

When Franck arrived in Canada he began painting more seriously but would not become a full-time artist for another fifteen years. Upon his arrival he worked in Montreal as a swimming coach at the central YMCA and then in Toronto as a swimming instructor at the Oakwood swimming pool, where he met his future artist wife, Florence Vale. When the Oakwood swimming pool closed after summer, he went back to Montreal and worked in the silverware department at Eaton’s before being transferred to the Fine Arts department. He then came back to Toronto, married Florence Vale and worked at Simpson’s restoring and hanging paintings in the Fine Arts department. At Simpson’s, Frank was able to meet and frequent other people from the art scene, notably ex-Group of Seven member Frank Johnston. When the great depression hit in 1929, Franck was laid off and the next decade proved to be very hard for the Franck family. During this time they lost their three year old daughter but had a second daughter, Anneke, who was to be their only child. After working on a variety of odd jobs in the years leading to the end of Second World War, Franck refused an Assistant Manager position at Simpson’s and decided to go on his own in the art business.

From his Gerard Street apartment, where he exhibited some of his paintings, Franck established himself in the restoration business and made his living as a painter under the title of “Picture Restorer”. Over the years, Franck’s apartment became a regular gathering spot for many of Toronto’s young artists such as Kasuo Nakamura and Harold Town. His business went well and he was finally able to earn a decent living while his paintings and water colours of old houses, backyards and back alleys of Toronto started to attract more attention. He began exhibiting his works in solo shows at Eaton’s and Simpson’s in 1947 and did so regularly until 1950. From 1948 to 1952 he exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy and did so again in 1963.

In the spring of 1953, after twenty four years of marriage, it was now possible for the Franks to buy a home on Hazelton Avenue. After the mortgage was paid off a few years later, Franck never had to worry about money again. Starting in the late fifties, he began exhibiting in various Toronto galleries and his solo shows attracted more and more people. In 1960, the Canada Council acquired a work from Franck and in 1963 he won the Art Gallery of Toronto purchase award. Starting in 1965, the sales rush was on for Franck’s works. At one point, people waited in line at the door before the show openings and Franck sold most of his works during his exhibitions, if not all of them. His regular annual sales were also doing extremely well, some years selling more than one hundred and eighty works.

Over the course of the next twenty five years leading to his death, Frank took part in many important group exhibitions including a travelling show organized by the Art Gallery of Toronto shown across Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Hamilton, St. Catherines, Windsor, London, Ottawa, Sarnia, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary) as well as others in the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico. He also participated in the shows of the Ontario Society of Artists, the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, the Canadian Society of Graphic Arts and other group exhibitions held at prestigious venues such as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Art Association of Montreal Spring Show, 1960), Hart House, University of Toronto (1960), Detroit Institute of Art (1962), York University (1963), University of Waterloo (1963-1965), Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (1967), Art Gallery of Ontario (1967) and others. He also exhibited jointly with Allan Collier at Galerie Martin in Montreal (1967) and at the Art Gallery of Windsor along with his wife, Florence Vale (1967).

Two years before his death Franck’s health started to deteriorate greatly but it did not show in his paintings until shortly before he was admitted to Mount Sinai Hospital in December 1972. The “Painter of Toronto streets” died two months later in Toronto at the age of 74.  

Collections:

- McMichael Canadian Art Collection (Kleinburg, ON)
- Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, ON)
- Art Gallery of Hamilton (Hamilton, ON)
- Museum London (London, ON)
- Art Gallery of Windsor (Windsor, ON)
- Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery (Owen Sound, ON)
- The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa, ON)
- The Market Gallery (Toronto, ON)
- Concordia University (Montreal, QC)
- York University (Toronto, ON)
- University of Toronto (Toronto, ON)
- University of Guelph (Guelph, ON)
- Royal Bank of Canada (Montreal, QC)

Affiliations:

- Ontario Society of Artists
- Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour
- Canadian Society of Graphic Arts
- Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy
- Royal Canadian Academy