Artist Pubs
Franklin Watkins

Franklin Chenault "Watty" Watkins (1894 - 1972) was active/lived in Pennsylvania.  Franklin Watkins is known for Portrait, figure, genre and still life painting, commercial art.

Born in New York City, Franklin Watkins, whose nickname was "Watty," was known for a painting style of "dramatic realism", which emerged in the mid 1920s and was "characterized by surging diagonals, expressionistic distortions and despite a brushy facture, insistent wiry outlines." (Baigell, 369)

He spent his boyhood in Philadelphia and took his art training at the Pennsylvania Academy from 1913 to 1918. However, his studies were interrupted due to financial difficulties and World War I in which he enlisted in the Navy with his life-long friend, Arthur B Carles. Watkins had "service as a civilian wartime ship camouflage* artist for the U.S. Shipping Board in Philadelphia." (Behrens)

He then spent five years as a commercial artist and in 1923, traveled to Europe on a Cresson Scholarship* and spent time in France, Spain, and Italy.  His study of the Old Masters* much influenced his future career. After teaching at the Tyler School of Art* at Temple University and the P   ...  [Displaying 1000 of 2231 characters.]  Artist bio

Artist auction records

.  askART's database currently holds 114 auction lots for Franklin Watkins (of which 81 auction records sold and 0 are upcoming at auction.)

Artist artworks for sale and wanted

.  There are 0 artworks for sale on our website by galleries and art dealers . There are 1 galleries and art dealers listing works of art by Franklin Watkins as either "Wanted" or "For Sale" .

Research resources

.  askART lists Franklin Watkins in 0 of its research Essays. Franklin Watkins has 9 artist signature examples available in our database.

Similar artists

.  There are 24 similar (related) artists for Franklin Watkins available:    John Neagle,  Henry McCarter,  Saul Schary,  Abraham Rattner,  Morris Blackburn,  Alexander Kruse,  Frederick Stuart Church,  Morton Livingston Schamberg,  Mildred Bunting Miller,  Joseph Hirsch,  Walter Stuempfig Jr,  Newbold Trotter,  Hobson Lafayette Pittman,  Kenyon C Cox,  Arthur Szyk,  Karl Knaths,  Arthur Beecher Carles Jr,  Yasuo Kuniyoshi,  Eugene Higgins,  Earl Horter,  Louis Kronberg,  Violet Oakley,  Robert Street,  Alexander Brook



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Facts about Franklin Watkins

   Publications  Book References:  81
Magazine References:  0

The listed publications are derived from what askART has identified from our research for this artist and are intended as an additional tool for information. askART has derived Publications as an aid to members, but it is not necessarily a complete list.
81 Book References for Franklin Watkins
Year Author Title Pages Color
2006 Fahlman, Betsy (Essay) Artists of the Commonwealth: Realism and Its Response in Pennsylvania Painting, 1900-1950
(Exhibition catalog)
71 Yes
2005 AskART.com Inc. -
Dunbier, Lonnie Pierson (Editor)
The Artists Bluebook 34,000 North American Artists to March 2005 479 No
2005 Davenport, Ray Davenport's Art Reference: The Gold Edition 2421 No
1999 Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor) Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975: Three Volumes 3724 No
1997 Schwarz, Robert Devlin 150 Years of Philadelphia Still Life Painting
(Exhibition catalog)
130 Yes
1996 Sims, Lowery/Sabine Rewald Still Life The Object in American Art, 1915-1995
(Exhibition catalog)
175 Yes
1995 Schwarz-Philadelphia One Hundred Paintings by American & European Artists
(Exhibition catalog)
60 Yes
1993 Henkes, Robert Themes in American Painting Common Styles and Genres/A Reference 260 Yes
1990 Falk, Peter Hastings Annual Exhibition Record, National Academy of Design: 1901-1950
(Exhibition catalog)
622 No
1990 Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor) The Annual Exhibition Record of the Art Institute of Chicago
(Exhibition catalog)
1117 No
1990 Schall, Ellen (others) American Art/American Vision Paintings from a Century of Collecting
(Exhibition catalog)
164 Yes
1989 Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor) Annual Exhibition Record, 1914-68, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
(Exhibition catalog)
538 No
1989 Fresella-Lee, Nancy The American Paintings (in the) Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art 222 Yes
1989 Gambone, Robert L Art and Popular Religion in Evangelical America, 1915-1940 286 Yes
1988 Falk, Peter Hastings Dictionary of Signatures & Monogram 556 No
1987 Cummings, Paul Dictionary of Contemporary American Artists (5th Edition) 653 No
1986 Chetham, Charles; David Grose A Guide to the Collections: Smith College Museum of Art 312 Yes
1986 Opitz, Glenn B (editor) Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers 1081 No
1985 Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor) Who Was Who in American Art: Artists Active Between 1898-1947 707 No
1985 Kilgore, Karen American Paintings from the first half of the 20th century
(Exhibition catalog)
80 Yes
1985 Smithsonian Institution National Portrait Gallery Collection Illustrated Checklist 461 No
1984 Ausfeld, M L/V M Mecklenburg Advancing American Art Politics and Aesthetics/State Dept Exhibition
(Exhibition catalog)
108 Yes
1984 Sims, Lowery Stokes The Figure in 20th Century American Art Metropolitan Museum of Art
(Exhibition catalog)
167 Yes
1982 Stebbins, Theodore/G Gorokhoff American Paintings at Yale University: An illustrated Checklist
(Exhibition catalog)
213 No
1981 Deak, Gloria-Gilda Profiles of American Artists Represented by Kennedy Galleries 163 No
1981 Newark Museum American Art in the Newark Museum Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture 431 Yes
1979 Baigell, Mathew Dictionary of American Art 390 No
1979 Karpel, Bernard/Ruth Spiegel Arts in America/A Bibliography Volume 2 (Painting and Graphics) 736 No
1977 Barr, Alfred H Painting and Sculpture in the Museum of Modern Art 655 No
1977 Finck, Furman J Complete Guide to Portrait Painting 206 Yes
1977 Williams, Mary Frances Collection of American Art Randolph-Macon Women's College 211 Yes
1976 Boyle, Richard (Prefac); Frank Goodyear, Jr.; Louise Lippincott, et all In This Academy: The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1805-1976
(Exhibition catalog)
322 Yes
1976 Marcus, George H. (Editor) Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art Philadelphia Museum of Art
(Exhibition catalog)
166 Yes
1975 Editor, Smithsonian Smithsonian Archives of American Art: Checklist of the Collection 0 No
1975 National Academy of Design A Century and Half of American Art, 1825-1975
(Exhibition catalog)
262 No
1974 Baigell, Mathew The American Scene: American Painting of the 1930s 214 Yes
1974 Baur, John I H Whitney Museum of American Art Catalogue of the Collection 235 Yes
1973 Davidson, Marshall The Artist's America American Heritage History of 416 Yes
1972 Kennedy Galleries Important American Art 1903-1972
(Exhibition catalog)
48 Yes
1972 Tomko, George Catalogue of The Roland P Murdock Collection Wichita Art Museum 237 Yes
1971 Porter, Allen/Wm McGonagle The Thirties Decade American Artists and Their European Contemporaries
(Exhibition catalog)
80 No
1970 Myers, Bernard S (editor) Encyclopedia of Painting (Painters of the World...etc) 511 Yes
1969 Museum of Modern Art Three American Romantic Painters Burchfield, Stettheimer, Watkins 132 No
1969 Museum of Modern Art Editors American Art of the 20's and 30's (Three Catalogues Combined)
(Exhibition catalog)
220 No
1966 Wolf, Ben Franklin C Watkins Portrait of a Painter
(Exhibition catalog)
201 Yes
1965 Richardson, Edgar P Painting in America From 1502 to the Present 456 Yes
1964 Baur, John I H Between the Fairs: 25 Years of American Art 1939-1964
(Exhibition catalog)
91 Yes
1963 Richardson, Edgar P A Short History of Painting in America 347 Yes
1961 Dorra, Henri American Muse, The 163 Yes
1961 Goodrich, Lloyd/John I H Baur American Art of Our Century 309 Yes
1960 Rasmusen, Henry Printmaking with Monotype 184 No
1958 Cheney, Sheldon The Story of Modern Art 723 Yes
1957 Baur, John I H New Art in America 279 No
1957 Eliot, Alexander Three Hundred Years of American Painting 318 Yes
1957 Trovato, Joseph, (Foreward); William C. Murray (Introduction) Portraiture: The 19th and 20th Centuries (Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute Exhibition)
(Exhibition catalog)
36 No
1956 Arizona State College Arizona State College Collection American Art 108 No
1956 Pousette-Dart, Nathaniel (ed) American Painting Today 127 Yes
1955 Myers, Bernard Encyclopedia of Painting 511 Yes
1954 Arizona State University The Arizona State College Collection of American Art 110 No
1954 Clark, Eliot History of the National Academy of Design, 1825-1953 296 No
1951 Baur, John I H Revolution and Tradition in Modern American Art 170 No
1950 Metropolitan Museum 100 American Painters of the 20th Century 132 Yes
1950 Ritchie, Andrew Carnduff Franklin C Watkins
(Exhibition catalog)
48 Yes
1949 Swenson, Eleanor De Gustibus A Century of Taste and Criticism
(Exhibition catalog)
60 No
1949 Wight, Frederick Milestones of American Painting in Our Century 135 Yes
1946 Gruskin, Alan D Painting in the U S A 223 Yes
1943 Soby, James Thrall/D C Miller Romantic Painting in America
(Exhibition catalog)
144 No
1942 Wheeler, Monroe 20th Century Portraits
(Exhibition catalog)
148 Yes
1942 Wheeler, Monroe (intro) Painters and Sculptors of Modern America 152 Yes
1941 Saint-Gaudens, Homer The American Artist and His Times 332 No
1940 Carnegie Institute Survey of American Painting
(Exhibition catalog)
320 No
1939 Art Institute of Chicago Half a Century of American Art The Art Institute of Chicago
(Exhibition catalog)
110 No
1939 Cheney, Martha Candler Modern Art in America 190 No
1939 Museum of Modern Art Art in Our Time Exhibition, Tenth Anniversary MoMA
(Exhibition catalog)
320 No
1939 Watson, Forbes (essay) American Painting Today 179 Yes
1937 Breckinridge, Mrs. H. (essay) Second National Exhibition of American Art Summer 1937
(Exhibition catalog)
32 No
1936 Breckinridge, Mrs. (essay) First National Exhibition of American Art
(Exhibition catalog)
32 No
1935 De Young Memorial Museum Exhibition of American Painting
(Exhibition catalog)
120 No
1934 Cahill, Holger/Alfred H Barr Art in America In Modern Times (1865-1934) 110 No
1933 Harshe, Robert (Introduction) A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings & Sculpture, Art Institute of Chicago
(Exhibition catalog)
215 No
1922 Clark, William Bell Philadelphia in the World War 1914-1919 0 Yes
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