Leo FRANK

Frank Morley Fletcher (1866-1949), who went mostly by the name of Morley Fletcher, which is also how he signed his art, spent most of his life in Britain until 1924, while living in the Unites States thereafter. Fletcher was educated in London and took art classes at the long-defunct St John’s Wood Art School, before traveling to Paris and studying at the mega-studio of Fernand Cormon in 1888.  In Paris Fletcher was exposed to Japanese color woodcuts, which had become the rage in artistic circles of the French capital.  It seems Fletcher found a way to teach himself the technique, which he passed on over the years to the likes of Allen W. Seaby, Eric Slater and Helen Stevenson.  Fletcher made a living as an art teacher, first in London, then in Santa Barbara.  He moved to the States permanently and continued to paint, make the occasional print, and teach.  His prints are mostly landscapes, in which human presence is generally seen, or at least palpable.  His technique called for water-based inks in which the brush stroke applying the color can often be detected.  His translucent inks are subdued but never wispy.  His compositions are always balanced and dreamy.

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