Frank B. A. Linton

He was a student of Thomas Eakins, studied the École des Beaux-Arts, and won a bronze medal at the 1927 Salon Nationale in Paris.

He exhibited An Evening's Reminiscence at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, a full-length painting of a nude woman seated before her dressing table and examining a rose.

Following World War I, Linton was commissioned by the Knights of Columbus to paint a full-length portrait of Commander of American Expeditionary Forces General John J. Pershing, as a gift from the United States to France.

Linton had his greatest professional success with a humorous twist on the traditional subject of a beautiful woman at her dressing table.

A Fool's Finesse depicted a circus clown standing before his dressing table, and carefully applying one last touch of greasepaint.

The painting was rejected for PAFA's 1922 annual exhibition,[12] but was displayed later that year in a window of Wanamaker's department store during Philadelphia Art Week.

He is not only a brilliant draftsman and colorist, a master of the brush but also possesses the keen psychological insight, which is the hallmark of genius in portraiture, and a freshness of outlook which reflects the rare quality of his creative imagination and lends individuality to his work.

He received this honor in 1913,[e] when his name was enrolled among the illustrious greats comprising the membership of the Internationale Union des Beaux-Arts et Lettres, including such personages as Kipling, Rodin, Degas, Anatole France, Renoir and many more.

Linton reportedly could command $5,000 to $10,000 for a portrait commission in the 1920s,[21] but he died insolvent, and his paintings and possessions were sold to pay creditors.

[23] Linton's private students included artists Agnes Allen,[11] Lila Oliver Asher,[24] Mabel B. Davis,[25] Berla Emeree,[26] Eleanora G. Fiore, Robert O. Frick,[27] Edward Newnam,[5] Joy Rubin,[28] and art historian David Sellin.