?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000
ANTHONY DeFRANGE (1923 - 1983)
One Cowboy. Oil on cotton canvas. 762609 mm; 30x24 inches. Signed and dated in oil, lower right. 1972.
Provenance:
Provenance: private collection, North Carolina; acquired by the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York (2008).
Mr. De Frange was born in Oklahoma in 1923 of Italian parents. As a boy he copied advertisements and sketched portraits of his family. His maternal uncle, Vincent Carano, was a fine sculptor in Italy, and on a visit in 1931, he urged his parents to cultivate Mr. De Frange's talents. He studied at the Cleveland School of Art for four years, and won many awards for his oils. Many of his portraits hang in the homes of celebrities all over the world. Among the owners of his paintings were Mae West, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Completely dedicated to his work, he would sometimes paint around the clock.
Sometimes known as Tony De Frange or A. DeFrange, Anthony De Frange was a skilled realist figure painter in San Francisco who specialized in portraits of celebrities and homo-erotic art. A member of the San Francisco Gay Community during the 60's and 70's, he was the first gay artist to have his gay art publicly shown in a San Francisco gallery. His work was shown at the Geary Gallery and in many venues including the cover of "California Scene." His paintings are currently in the collection of the Leslie/Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York.
