Hannah Frank [also known as 'Al Aaraaf'] was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 23 August 1908 and was the daughter of Russian Jewish émigrés. She studied moral philosophy and Latin at the University of Glasgow from where she graduated in 1930. She also attended Jordanhill Teacher Training College in Glasgow, and, at various times, took evening classes at Glasgow School of Art. Between 1930 and 1939 she taught at schools in Glasgow In 1929 she was awarded the GSA Evening Class Prize for her drawing Sorcery, and in 1934, the James McBey Prize for wood engraving. The influence of the 'Spook' school of Glasgow artists, and, possibly Aubrey Beardsley, is evident in many of her drawings. Frank signed several of her early drawings ‘Al Aaraaf’.
In 1939 she married Lionel Levy.
In 1952 she began taking classes in sculpture at the GSA and trained with Paul Zunterstein and Benno Schotz. Soon sculpture became her main creative output and she continued to produce sculpture until her early nineties.
Frank exhibited frequently at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh between 1947 and 1989. She also exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1963, and at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. A major international touring retrospective exhibition was held in 2008 to mark her 100th birthday. She was also made an honorary member of the Glasgow Society of Women Artists that year. She died in Glasgow on 18 December 2008.
Text source: Art History Research net (AHR net)
Text source: Art History Research net (AHR net)
