This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Born in New York City, Franklin Watkins, known as "Watty," spent his boyhood in Philadelphia and took his art training at the Pennsylvania Academy. However, his studies were interrupted due to financial difficulties and World War I. He enlisted as a Navy camouflager with his life-long friend, Arthur B Carles.
He then spent five years as a commercial artist and in 1923, traveled to Europe on a Cresson Scholarship. He spent time in France, Spain, and Italy, and his study of the Old Masters much influenced his future career. After teaching at the Tyler School of Temple University and the Philadelphia college of Art, he had a long career, from 1943 to his death in 1972, as a teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art.
He earned many awards including the Bronze Medal at the Paris International Exposition in 1937 and the Bronze Medal at the Musee Jeu de Paume in Paris in 1938. However, the turning point in his career was in 1931 when he won the Carnegie International First Award for "Suicide in Costume," a dead clown with smoking pistol in hand. This work was the subject of much controversy as well as positive admiration.
Watkins' painting style was introspective and included symbolic still lifes, figure and occasional portraits. His portrait of Mayor Clark was criticized for being too brooding. New York critics disdained Watkins after a MOMA retrospective in 1950, so he never again showed in that city. |
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