Seeadler (Sea Eagle), aka 'Lake in the Mountains

Leo Frank

This Arts & Crafts, Japanese influenced color woodcut by Leo Frank has been exhibited under numerous titles, including "Sea Eagle" and various takes on a mountain lake. An eagle rises on the air currents. Beyond him the day breaks on a mountain lake, the fog has yet to lift in the distance, in the foreground at the lake's edge two trees appear to stand vigil.

Printmaker Leo Frank was born in Vienna, Austria on 13 May 1884, the younger twin of brother Hans. Like his brother, Leo became a painter who specialized in landscapes, still lifes, and portraits, and a printmaker who specialized in color woodcut. Between 1903 and 1907, he studied at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) under Professor Anton von Kenner and later under Professor Franz Rumpler at the Academy of Fine Arts between 1907 and 1911.

According to a family accounting, he traveled extensively after completing his studies. From 1920 to 1945, Frank was a Professor at the Department of Prints and Drawings at the Academy. In 1921 he became a member of the Künstlerhaus, Vienna’s oldest artists society.

Both Frank brothers had representation for their work in the U.S. Later in his career Leo's color woodcuts were included in the Print Makers Society of California's International Print Makers exhibitions in 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, and 1931.