Frank Mason (1921-2009)

All paintings depicted here were executed using Alchemist's Painting Mediums and Amber Varnish products.

"From his research of Renaissance and Baroque sources on the arts of painting and related crafts, Donald Fels has developed a number of remarkable painting mediums of both Amber and non-Amber. I am especially impressed with his fine clear Amber painting medium. By limiting himself to 15 th century technology to arrive at the exceptionally clear solution of the Amber in the oil, he has clearly demonstrated that clear solutions of this medium were available to painters, as authors of the period have stated. The use of this technology continued into the high Baroque. In the words of Rubens to van Dyke, 'He spoke to me of a man who dissolved amber without carbonizing it so that the solution was pale, yellow and transparent.'

(Manuscript page 155, Theodore Turquet De Mayerne, Pictoria, Sculptoria, Tinctoria, et qua Subalternarum Artium , B.M. Sloane 2052.)

“When used as directed these Fels mediums will paint out thinly and in a vertical position without running. They write effortlessly off the brush. They allow strokes to set in semi-wet coats of paint without running or disturbing the lower layers, so broad strokes and fine details can be created wet over wet in multiple layers. They permit the control of time between strokes.
Donald Fels’ Clear and Dark Linseed and Walnut Amber Varnishes have the same characteristics as his Linseed Painting Mediums, thick and thinned. These varnishes dry well, do not crack and when dry will resist the effect of alkalies and solvents like spirits of turpentine and mineral spirits. When mixed with oil colors or used as final varnishes these Amber Varnishes create a glowing sense of depth and transparency not possible using any of the conventional oil mediums I have tried.
I recommend Donald Fels’ Painting Mediums and Amber Varnishes and their use to modern painters who strive for the quality obtained by artists of earlier eras. If the artist is master of the brush through great draftsmanship, creative freedom has been restored.”

Biography

Frank Mason was concerned with the illusion of subject matter in space and atmosphere, revealed through light. He studied 12 years at the Art Students League with Frank Vincent DuMond. Mr. Mason’s eight large canvases on the life of St. Anthony of Padua may be seen in Venice in the 11th century church of San Giovanni di Malta. In recognition of these paintings the Sovereign Military Order of the Knights of St. John of Malta was bestowed upon Mr. Mason, La Croce al Merito, first class.
Mr. Mason has been an instructor at the Art Student League in New York for over 55 years. Other honors received by Mr. Mason include: the 1990 Purchase Award, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters; the 1993 Newington Award for Best Painting in the Grand National Exhibition of the American Artists Professional League; the 1996 New Jersey Chapter Award, American Artists Professional League Grand National; the St. Micheal’s Religious Award, Pennational Exhibition, Pennsylvania; the Prix d’ Amerique du Nord and the AAPL’s Gold Medal of Honor at the “Exposition Continentale”, Palais de Congres, Monaco.
Among his many portraits are those of Prince Giacchino Colonna of Venice, Bishop Austin Pardue, John Cardinal Wright, Governor Averell Harriman, Col. Earl “Red” Blaik of West Point Military Academy, and Dr. Christian J. Lambertson, founding Director of The Institute for Environmental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
His “Resurrection” may be seen at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in New York City. In 1980, he completed three murals on the naval history of Saudi Arabia for the King Faisal Naval Academy in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. In 1986, his corporate mural (24 x 8 feet), “And the Gods Smiled on These”, was installed in Houston, Texas.
Mr. Mason was a member of The National Academy of Design, The American Artists Professional League, the Salmagundi Club, and The Royal Society of Arts. He was President Emeritus of The National Society of Mural Painters. He has exhibited widely and is represented in many private and public collections. His works were featured in the “Mostly Mason” retrospective at The Art Students League/American Fine Arts Gallery in the fall of 1993. His lifelong efforts in recreating the painting methods of Sir Peter Paul Rubens and Sir Anthony van Dyck, in addition to his crusading efforts in preventing the cleaning of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling and the excessive restoration techniques used to restore Old Master paintings and works of arts, will be the legacy he has left to future generations of artists and lovers of painting.