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Frank Koci
Bold San Francisco Abstracted Still Life Composition in Oil on Board

1960s

About the Item

Bold San Francisco Abstracted Still Life Composition in Oil on Board Bold still life composition by Frank Koci (Czech-American, 1904-1983). A table is set with a jug of wine and a bowl of fruit and a landscape in the background. It is composed of several layers of paint, with bold outlines. In some areas, paint has been scraped away to create additional texture. In broad terms, you can describe Koci’s paintings as a series of “people-scapes,” wherein people are shown having relationships (some fleeting, some enduring) with fellow humans. A better term is probably “preludes” — wherein each painting sets the stage for something momentous that will occur in the very next frame. In the best Kocis, the tension is palpable. Signed in the lower right corner "Koci". Presented in a wood frame. Board size: 13"H x 30"W x .5"D Born in 1904 in Pilsen Czechoslovakia to a widowed mother. Koci grew up in poverty. Leaving Pilsen at 17 he was already too sophisticated about arts and literature, drama, and polished military brass. He sailed to America and then on to Texas where he stayed with Czech relatives and was a milking champion. Then on to Hollywood and the studios where he worked as a night guard and picked up painting. He was also a stunt man and appeared in several Charlie Chaplin films as an extra, Later he joined the Merchant Marines to spend some thirty years at sea. Living in San Francisco he began to paint seriously and gave himself Birthday parties where he would sell his paintings. He became a denizen of the North Beach art scene and began to exhibit. Until recently he remained relatively unknown except for a small coterie of collectors who hoarded his work. (Marjorie Beggs interview excerps) The work of San Francisco Beat-era artist Frank Koci, born in 1904 in Czechoslovakia, “represented a remarkable union of naivete and canny sophistication,” wrote Thomas Albright, reviewer and author of Art in the San Francisco Bay Area 1945-1980: An Illustrated History. Before he turned to painting, the young Koci, new to America, worked as a merchant seaman, cowboy, farmhand, silent film and theater extra. He was still actively painting when Oral History Project staffer Isabel Maldonado interviewed him in August 1978 at his Clementina Street apartment. A South of Market resident, he had watched as Yerba Buena Center construction got under way, displacing thousands of residents and hundreds of businesses, most permanently. Early on, the neighborhood was called South of the Slot because of the Market Street cable cars. When they were long gone, then it became South of Market. And, in the '80s, in a nod to New York City’s SoHo district, people in San Francisco started calling the area SoMa.
  • Creator:
    Frank Koci (1904 - 1983, American, Czech)
  • Creation Year:
    1960s
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 13 in (33.02 cm)Width: 30 in (76.2 cm)Depth: 0.5 in (1.27 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Very Good condition. Minor warp to board surface layer 1/2", upper left edge. Professionally cleaned and UV varnished.
  • Gallery Location:
    Soquel, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: RJA83541stDibs: LU54211802102

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