Biography
CV
Frank Gude, born in 1950 in Amsterdam and presently based in Heerhugowaard, The Netherlands, is a Dutch abstract expressionist painter whose practice unfolds through the mediums of oil and acrylic on wood, aluminium panel, and canvas. Educated at the Academy for Graphic Techniques, Gude has cultivated a visual language grounded in both aesthetic inquiry and phenomenological engagement with the act of painting. His oeuvre occupies a critical locus within the continuum of post-war abstraction, wherein gesture, materiality, and existential reflection converge to articulate a profound meditation on perception, temporality, and human emotion.
Gude's artistic production is distinguished by his research into the purity of artistic vision, conceived as an unmediated expression of instinctual vitality sublimated into what he describes as an agape culture—an expanded field of love, connection, and collective resonance. His paintings, defined by thick impasto and gestural intensity, embody a virtuous synthesis of abstraction and emotional authenticity, revealing a disciplined chromatic methodology drawn from his intimate dialogue with natural elements, familial bonds, and the intangible energies of lived experience. Through his invocation of psychic automatism, Gude aligns himself with the spiritual and philosophical lineage of European "art informel" and the legacy of the COBRA movement, particularly the influence of Karel Appel. His work aspires toward an art liberated from repression, wherein abstraction functions as a vehicle for the dissolution of categorical boundaries and the renewal of ontological awareness. Significant projects, including World Exhibition Floriade 2002, The Bridge of Life, and Horse Emotions: The Circle of Life, serve as paradigms of his exploration into the spatio-temporal continuum and the evolution of form as an extension of human consciousness.
Frank Gude's contributions to contemporary abstraction have been recognized through his participation in notable exhibitions such as the Floriade 2002, and his works are represented in numerous private collections both nationally and internationally. A graduate of the Academy for Graphic Techniques, Gude continues to advance an artistic discourse that situates abstraction not merely as a formal experiment but as a metaphysical inquiry - an articulation of the interior life of painting and its enduring capacity to bridge the personal, the cultural, and the universal.
Education
1973 M.F.A. in Fine Arts (Sculpture), Washington University, St. Louis, MO
1971 B.S. in Sociology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Awards
1989 Pollock Krasner Foundation Award
1986 Reynolds Aluminum, Commission R.S. Reynolds Memorial Award
1986 National Endowment for the Arts Grant 1978 National Endowment for the Arts Grant 1974-75 Fulbright-Hayes Grant for Sculpture to Japan
1974 National Endowment for the Arts Grant
Selected Individual Exhibitions
2013 "Devotion", Affirmation Arts, New York, NY
2001 "Jeffrey Maron, Painting & Sculpture", Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
2000 "Birth of the World", Westwood Gallery, New York, NY
1993 Stephen Rosenberg Gallery, New York, NY
1986 P.S.1 (Institute for Art & Urban Resources), New York, NY
1984 Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, NY
1983 Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, NY
1981 Martha White Gallery, Louisville, KY
1979 Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY
1978 Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY
1977 Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY
1975 United States Information Service, American Cultural Centers in Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka & Sapporo, Japan
1975 Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1974 Westchester Community College, Westchester, NY
1973 Forest Park College, St. Louis, MO
1971 Loretto Hilton Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Group Exhibitions
2009 Art Miami, Westwood Gallery, Miami, FL
2006 Internal Geometry, Rosenberg + Kaufman Fine Art, NYC
2005 Choices, Rosenberg + Kaufman Fine Art, NYC
2002 Intrepid, Rosenberg + Kaufman Fine Art, NYC
2002 "Gift", TriBeCa Temporary, NYC
1999 "The Spiritual in Art: The Millennium", Kendal Art & Design, Hudson, NY
1998 Space and Surface, Goldstrom Gallery, NYC
1997 One of a Kind, Rosenberg + Kaufman Fine Art, NYC
1997 Aaron Faber Gallery, NYC
1996 "Spirit Witness", ACA Gallery, NYC Jeffrey Maron
1994 Kurts Bingham Gallery, Memphis, TN
1988 Lillian Heidenberg Gallery, New York, NY
1987 Art et Industrie, 10th Aniversary Exhibition
1987 Sculpture 87, Printemps des Arts, Monaco
1987 F.I.D.E.M. International Medalic Art, 50th Aniversary,Colorado Springs, CO
1986 "Test", Art & Industry, New York, New York
1986 Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA
1986 "Novus Ordo Seclorum", A & P Gallery, New York, NY
1985 "American Art Medals", National Museum of American History, Simthsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1985 "Adornments", Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, New York, NY
1985 "Soul Catchers", Stellwig Seguy Gallery, New York, New York
1985 F.I.D.E.M. International Medalic Art, Stockholm, Sweden
1985 "American Medalic Art", Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
1985 "All Eyes East", New York, NY
1984 The Union Invitational, Union, NJ
1983 "Small Works by Major Artists", Marisa del Re Gallery, NYC
1982 Grace Hokin Gallery, Bay Harbor Island, FL
1981 "Works on Paper", Weatherspoon Art Gallery, NC
1978 Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY
1977 Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY
1974 A.M. Sachs Gallery, New York, New York
1970 Little Rock Art Museum, Little Rock, Arkansas
1969 "Mid-America Biannual", St. Louis Art Mus
Selected Bibliography
Sclegel, Sharon, The New York Times, "Grounds for Healing" December 1, 2002
Zimmer, William, The New York Times, "Linking Eastern Culture To Abstract Forms"
Bischoff, Dan, The Star Ledger, Art Review, October 26, 2001
Bill, Andrew, "Chair Flair", Town & Country Magazine, May 1987
Harris, Susan, A., "Jeffrey Maron", Arts Magazine, November 1984
Bischoff, Dan, The Star Ledger, Art Review, October 26, 2001
Bill, Andrew, "Chair Flair", Town & Country Magazine, May 1987
Harris, Susan, A., "Jeffrey Maron", Arts Magazine, November 1984
Horwitz, James, "Olympic Tower of Power", Cosmopolitan Magazine, December31, 1981
"Jeffrey Maron", review, Arts Magazine, January 1980
Cover and Inside Photos, Architectural Digest, January / February 1979
Tratransky, Valentin, "Jeffrey Maron", Arts Magazine, April 1978
Trends Magazine #33, U.S.I.S. Publication, April 1978
Mizue, October 1975
Buge Shimbun, September 1975
Yomuri Shibun,July 30, 1975
Yomuri Shibun, July 19, 1975
Asahi Shimbun, July 19 1975
"New Talent Festival", Arts Magazine, September 1974
Public Collections
U.S. Embassy, Tokyo, Japan
University of Pittsburgh, Hillman Library
Mountain Bell Corporate Offices, Denver, CO
Smithsonian Institution
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Philadelphia Health Care Plan, Philadelphia, PA
Hakone Museum, Hakone, Japan
Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO
Modern Museum of Art, Mexico City, Mexico
Sumitomo Corp., Kobe, Japan
Westchester Community College, Purchase, NY
Merrill Lynch Corp., New York, NY
NYNEX Corp., White Plains, NY
Deloitte and Touche
Weil, Gotshall & Manges
Davidson College, Davidson, NC
Kitano Corp.
Rosenthal Art Equities
Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington, KY
United States Embassy, Amman, Jordon.
public commissions - site specific
Oliver Carr Corporation, Washington, D. C.
Philadelphia Science Center, Philadelphia, PA
Koll Corporation, Irvine, CA
Hartwell Building, Pittsburgh, PA
The Lighthouse, Inc., New York, NY
Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Hamilton, NJ