The artist Natalie Frank recently debuted a special edition artwork commissioned by the online art platform Her Clique. Launched earlier this year by Izabela Depczyk as an all-inclusive hub for artists and their patrons, the website is focused on three main goals: promoting female artists, supporting nonprofits, and offering fine art at a more accessible price point.
Natalie Frank in her studio with the work “Woman and Dog,” photo by Bunny Lake Films, courtesy of Her Clique.
For the collaboration, Frank created a special hand-painted lithograph and woodblock print featuring the vivid, gestural work Woman and Dog. It follows the artist’s practice of illustrating women’s stories from their own empowered perspectives. With just 30 editions created, the sale of the prints will donate a portion of proceeds to Dieu Donné—an organization supporting emerging artists through a collaborative approach focused on hand papermaking.
“Woman and Dog pairs a woman and a dog, a couple that I have used in many paintings and drawings,” said Frank. “There are so many courtly portraits of women and men, women pictured in the subservient position to their husbands, usually kings. I wanted to eschew this and make the woman the ‘king’ and her dog, her loyal companion.”
Natalie Frank, “Woman and Dog,” photo by Bunny Lake Films, courtesy of Her Clique.
Frank’s collaboration with Her Clique also coincided with an exhibition at Half Gallery, entitled “Don Quixote,” which ended last month. The show featured the artist’s drawings surrounding the comedic novel of the same name, in line with Frank’s recent works which examine the role of women in fairy tales. The 10 gouache and chalk pastel drawings illustrated in great detail a new perspective on moments from a story laden with the toxic masculinity of its foolish hero.
Natalie Frank, “Don Quixote II,” 2019-2020, gouache and chalk pastel on paper, 30 x 22 inches; courtesy of the artist and Half Gallery.
