Franklin Boggs

We seek early work by Franklin Boggs.  If you have pieces to sell, please contact us at: info@GalleryofWisconsinArt.com

(1914, Warsaw, IN – 2009, Beloit, WI)

Franklin Boggs was a graduate of Fort Wayne Art School in Fort Wayne, IN and Pennsylvanian Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He also traveled to Europe on two fellowships.

He worked at the Tennessee Valley Authority as a graphic artist until 1944, when he served as a war correspondent artist with the US Army Medical Corps in New Guinea. There, he rendered highly realistic images of soldiers in aftermath of battle.

The following year, in 1945, he started teaching at the Beloit College, where he would continue his career as an artist in residence and chairman of the art department until his retirement in 1979. Boggs also lectured on contemporary art and modern architecture in Europe. Furthermore, he curated exhibitions featuring children’s art and Native American arts. He was commissioned to produce large-scale public works pieces, but he also created smaller pieces for the local community. Besides painting and sketching, he also photographed and later developed techniques in casting murals from concrete and more.

His work was exhibited at the Write Museum of Art in Beloit College and Milwaukee Art Institute. His murals were installed in institutes across eight states and Finland. His work can be found in many permanent collections including the Pentagon and the Museum of Wisconsin Art.

His career was documented by PBS in They Drew Fire. Furthermore, he was featured as one of Life Magazine’s best young American painters in 1947. He also received the American Institute of Architects award for achievement for the design and execution of a sculpture.

Sources: Beloit Art Center and Wright Museum of Art.

Museum of Wisconsin Art, http://wisconsinart.org/archives/artist/w-franklin-boggs/profile-570.aspx

AskArt http://www.askart.com/artist_bio/Franklin_Boggs/10005344/Franklin_Boggs.aspx