Alfred Frankenstein

Alfred Victor Frankenstein(October 5, 1906 – June 22, 1981) was an art and music critic, author, and professional musician.

He was the long-time art and music critic for theSan Francisco Chroniclefrom 1934 to 1965.He was noted for championingAmerican artand coining the termActual Art.His most famous book isAfter The Hunt,a volume that examined thetrompe-l'œilmovement in late 19th-century and early 20th-century American art, focussing especially on thepaintersWilliam HarnettandJohn Frederick Peto.Among his colleagues, he was noted for his wit and his lack of tolerance for pretension.

Prior to becoming a journalist and critic, he played clarinet in theChicago Symphony Orchestra.He was married to theconcertviolinistSylvia Lent.

He was also a professor of Art History at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1970s and a professor of Art History at Mills College in Oakland in the 1960s and 1970s.

Frankenstein was a cousin of Abraham F. Frankenstein, who composed the music of California's official state song, "I Love You, California".

Books

• After the Hunt; William Harnett and Other American Still Life Painters, 1870-1900.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1953.
• A Modern Guide to Symphonic Music.New York: Meredith Press. 1966.
• After the Hunt; William Harnett and Other American Still Life Painters, 1870-1900.Rev. ed. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1969.
• The Reality of Appearance: The Trompe l'œil Tradition in American Painting.Greenwich, Conn: New York Graphic Society Ltd. 1970.
• The World of Copley, 1738-1815.New York: Time-Life Books. 1970.
• Karel Appel.New York: H.N. Abrams. 1980.ISBN0-8109-0364-4
• Painter of Rural America: William Sidney Mount, 1807-1868.Washington: H.K. Press, c1968.

Sources

• Author and Bookinfo