Frank H. Desch

“A prophet of Provincetown’s dazzling light”¹

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I. Biography

Frank Howard Desch was an American painter and illustrator, best known for his portraits of women. Born in 1873 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Desch was ill throughout his childhood and did not begin proper training until age 20. He attended classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and later studied under William Merritt Chase (1849–1916) and Charles Webster Hawthorne (1872–1930). In addition to painting, Desch’s pastel illustrations were widely distributed on magazine covers, in books, on decorative fans, on postcards, advertisements, and calendars. In 1916, he visited Provincetown and became associated with the town’s circle of Impressionist painters.² He vacationed on Cape Cod almost every summer and exhibited regularly with the Provincetown Art Association for the rest of his life.³

Desch’s wife, Ruth, and sister-in-law, Alice, served as frequent models for his portraits, and the breathtaking view from his home, the second-highest house on Cape Cod at the time, often featured in the background of his paintings.⁴ A critic in the magazine Art and Progress described Desch’s portraits as “a most successful effort to render the vibrant color of the plein air painter and yet with no loss of other qualities such as design or composition.”⁵ Desch made his Boston debut with an exhibition at Cobb Gallery in 1917, where his paintings were praised for capturing “the very essence of summer light and warmth, the charm of out-of-doors, as seen through a joyous and youthful spirit.”⁶ Desch also frequently exhibited in New York City, where he also kept a studio in Chelsea.⁷ He supported his artistic career as an illustrator, having many of his drawings featured in magazines, for example, in short stories in Harper’s Monthly Magazine.⁸ His paintings often had idyllic titles, such as A Sunny Morning, By the Window, and The Chinese Coat. His 1919 painting, The Blueberry Pickers, exhibited at the Corcoran Galleries in Washington, D.C., received widespread praise from artists and critics alike.⁹ In 1924, Desch won the Members’ Purchase prize for his painting, La Robe de Boudoir, which now resides in the Salmagundi Club’s permanent collection.

Desch resided primarily in New York City, but in 1921, he and his wife visited France and stayed with the circle of American expatriates in Paris.¹⁰ There, Desch studied under Louis-François Biloul (1874–1947), a French painter who specialized in portraits, still lifes, and floral compositions. Desch was a member of the Allied Artists of America, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Salmagundi Club, the Provincetown Art Association, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and he frequently exhibited at their venue.¹¹ Frank Desch passed away in 1934 in Hurffville, New Jersey. He left an enduring impact on the Pennsylvania Impressionist movement through his atmospheric and evocative compositions. Desch’s work is part of the collections of the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, and the Salmagundi Museum of American Art in New York City.

II. Chronology

• 1873 Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 19
• 1893 Begins classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under William Merritt Chase
• 1914 Exhibits A Sunny Morning at The Art Institute of Chicago
• 1916 First exhibition at the Provincetown Art Association
• 1917 First Boston exhibition at Cobb Gallery
• 1919 Exhibits The Blueberry Pickers at the Corcoran Galleries in Washington, D.C.
• 1921 Travels to Paris to study under Louis-François Biloul
• 1924 Wins the Members’ Purchase prize for his painting, La Robe de Boudoir, at the Salmagundi Club
• 1934 Passes away on January 10 in Hurffville, Gloucester County, New Jersey

III. Collections

• Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
• Salmagundi Club, New York, New York
• Provincetown Art Commission, Massachusetts
• Bloomington Art Association, Illinois

IV. Exhibitions

• 1914, 1921, 1923, 1925 The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois¹²
• 1916–1933 Provincetown Art Association, Massachusetts¹³
• 1917 Cobb Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
• 1918–20, 1922–24, 1927, 1929–30, 1932–33 National Academy of Design, New York¹⁴
• 1919, 1921 Corcoran Galleries, New York¹⁵
• 1919–23, 1925–26, 1928–34 Salmagundi Club, New York, The Members’ Purchase prize, 1924¹⁶
• 1921, 1923, 1927 Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania¹⁷
• 1923 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania¹⁸
• 1924 Central States Fair, Aurora, Illinois¹⁹
• 1930 The Florida Federation of Art, Miami, prize

V. Memberships

• Allied Artists of America
• Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
• Salmagundi Club, 1919
• Provincetown Art Association

VI. Notes

1. “Boston,” American Art News 16, no. 12 (1917): 5.
2. Ronald A. Kuchta and Dorothy Gees Seckler, Provincetown Painters, 1890s–1970s, (Everson Museum of Art, 1977), 280.
3. “New England Liked by Most Artists,” The Art News, 21, no. 37 (1923): 2.
4. Norm Platnick, The Fairest Flower: A Collector’s Guide to Frank Desch, (Enchantment Ink, 2015), 4.
5. Eugene Castello, “The Annual Exhibition of the Fellowship, P.A.F.A,” Art and Progress 5, no. 9 (1914): 333.
6. “Boston,” American Art News 16, no. 12 (1917): 5.
7. “Artist’s Notes,” American Art News, vol. 18, no. 11, (Jan. 3, 1920): 7.
8. Johnson Morton, “Vindication. A Story.” Harper’s Magazine (Feb 1, 1910).
9. “Artist’s Notes,” American Art News 18, no. 11 (1920): 7.
10. “Americans in Paris,” American Art News 19, no. 39 (1921): 4; “Studio Gossip,” American Art News 19, no. 33 (1921): 5.
11. Peter Falk, Who Was Who in American Art, vol 1, (Sound View Press, 1999), 897.
12. Peter Falk, The Annual Exhibition Record of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1888-1950, (Sound View Press, 1990): 270.
13. “The Provincetown Show,” American Art News, Vol. 14, no. 36, (July 15, 1916): 11; Sixth Annual Exhibition of the Provincetown Art Association, 1920, p. 9.
14. Peter Falk, The Annual Exhibition Record of the National Academy of Design, 1901-1950 (Sound View Press, 1990): 171.
15. Seventh Exhibition of Oil Paintings by Contemporary American Artists (Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1919); Eighth Exhibition of Oil Paintings by Contemporary American Artists (Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1921).
16. Alexander W. Katlan, The Salmagundi Club Painting Exhibition Records, 1889–1939 (Salmagundi Club, 2008): 212–13; Alexander W. Katlan, Salmagundi Club Painting Exhibition Records, 1940–1951 & Watercolor Exhibition Records, 1900–1951 (Salmagundi Club, 2009): 129; “Costigan and Desch Win $1,000 Prizes,” The Art News, vol. 22, no. 24 (March 22, 1924): 3.
17. Peter Falk, Record of the Carnegie Institute’s International Exhibitions, 1896–1996 (Sound View Press, 1998): 91.
18. Peter Falk, The Annual Exhibition Record of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, vol. 2 (Sound View Press, 1989): 160.
19. “Aurora, Ill.,” The Art News 22, no. 40 (1924): 8.

VII. Suggested Resources

• Antiques Roadshow, season 18, episode 12, “Kansas City, Hour 3,” directed by Sarah Elliot, premiered April 14, 2014, on PBS.
• Falk, Peter. Who Was Who in American Art. Vol. 1, Sound View Press, 1999, p. 897.
• Platnick, Norm. The Fairest Flower: A Collector’s Guide to Frank Desch. Enchantment Ink, 2015.