Frank William Handlen (September 26, 1916 – May 25, 2023) was an American painter, sculptor and shipwright, known for his marine-based portraits.
Biography
Born in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
in 1916, and raised in
Caldwell, New Jersey, Handlen depicts ships, the sea and the Maine landscape in oil and pastels. In 1938, his mentor, marine artist Frederick Judd Waugh, encouraged him to go to Maine, "where it will all be before you". Handlen settled first in
Biddeford Pool
Biddeford Pool is a large tidal pool, located off Saco Bay south of the mouth of the Saco River on the south coast of Maine. It is approximately 6 miles southeast of downtown Biddeford, to which it is connected via State Route 208. The town of Ke ...
and later in
Kennebunkport
Kennebunkport is a resort town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,629 people at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford metropolitan statistical area.
The town center, the are ...
. As a young man, he worked in Bernie Warner's shipyard on the
Kennebunk River
The Kennebunk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river in York County, Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern reg ...
and eventually designed and built his own forty-foot, sixteen ton topsail schooner, ''The Saltwind'', which is moored in the
Kennebunk River
The Kennebunk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river in York County, Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern reg ...
behind his house, very near the site of the old shipyard. In 1994, he was commissioned to create the heroic bronze statue, ''Our Forebears of the Coast'', which stands on the
Kennebunkport
Kennebunkport is a resort town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,629 people at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford metropolitan statistical area.
The town center, the are ...
River Green.
Handlen was a Fellow of The American Society of Marine Artists for 22 years. He illustrated "Seapiece The Story of a Maine Boy" by Will Beale and "The Story of Maine for Young Readers" by Melville Freeman and Estelle Hale Perry. His pastels, oil paintings and pen and ink drawings are extensively owned by private and corporate collectors including The Kennebunkport Historical Society, The Brick Store Museum, MBNA, Sears Roebuck and The
St. Botolph Club in Boston. He
turned 100 in September 2016, and 105 in 2021.
Handlen died in
Biddeford, Maine
Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddeford Po ...
, on May 25, 2023, at the age of 106.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Handlen, Frank
1916 births
2023 deaths
20th-century American male artists
20th-century American painters
American centenarians
American male painters
American marine artists
Men centenarians
Painters from Brooklyn
People from Caldwell, New Jersey