Hannah Frank at the Nail Factory

From Rupinder Dulay at the Nail Factory

The work of the Glasgow artist Hannah Frank is to get a second showing at The Nail Factory, Dalbeattie, Dumfries & Galloway, from 2 November - 20 December 2014.

The celebrated artist’s drawings and sculpture comprised the little gallery’s biggest ever exhibition in summer 2013 and enthralled visitors.

Nail Factory curator, Rupinder Dulay, said: “This new Hannah Frank exhibition follows on from the Glasgow Girls exhibition in Kirkcudbright which ran this summer. We will showcase a number of original Hannah Frank prints and a greater range of sculpture than we did last year. Visitors were absolutely enchanted by her work and asked to see more.”

There will also be a chance to see the short film, Hannah Frank: The Spark Divine’ by award-winning filmmaker Sarah Thomas and also to buy Hannah Frank notelets, cards, prints, (signed and unsigned) and even Hannah Frank bronzes.

The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC) will host an evening gathering at the gallery for the Jewish festival of Chanukah on Thursday 18 December from 6pm.

Garden by Hannah Frank. 1932.

Hannah Frank was born to Jewish parents in Glasgow in 1908. She studied at Glasgow University, graduating in 1930 with a Master’s degree. She had a long association with Glasgow School of Art, as she attended evening classes there for many decades. She won the GSA evening class prize in 1929 for her drawing ‘Sorcery’ and later, the James McBey prize for wood engraving in 1934.

Her trademark black and white drawings, which she completed between 1925 and 1952, are resonant of the Art Nouveau period yet maintain her own, very distinctive style. From 1952 she focused on sculpture, studying under Benno Schotz, who became Her Majesty's Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland. She exhibited her work – drawings and sculpture - for 49 consecutive years at the Royal Glasgow Institute.

Fiona Frank, Hannah’s niece and champion, said: “Bringing my aunt’s work to The Nail Factory for a second time is a real honour. Hannah’s work has been exhibited across the UK and in America and I am in no doubt that even more people in this part of Scotland will come to love her work as much as her other fans.”

While at university Hannah Frank contributed poems and illustrations GUM – the Glasgow University Magazine, using the pen name ‘Al Aaraaf’. The name, from a poem by Edgar Alan Poe, refers to a star named by the Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe which “shone as bright as Jupiter and Venus for a few nights and was never seen again.”

Hannah’s fate has been very different: her work has seen a huge resurgence in interest over the last 10 years and since her death, in 2008 at the age of 100, interest has soared. In 2009 she became the first ever recipient of a posthumous honorary doctorate from Glasgow University. She also has a posthumous Lord Provost’s award from Glasgow City Council for her contribution to art.

Hannah Frank Exhibition, 2 Nov – 20 Dec, The Nail Factory, 56 Southwick Road, Dalbeattie, DG5 4EW Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. 
Tel: 01556 611686. 
Opening hours 11am - 6pm, Tuesday to Sunday.