Who was Frank Haviland?
Frank Burty Haviland, born in 1886 Limoges, France, was a French Cubist painter.
From an early age, Frank Haviland was influenced by his family’s creative professions. He was the grandson of Philippe Burty, art collector and critic who gave us the artistic term, “japonisme.” He was the son of Charles Haviland, owner of Haviland and Company, a producer of porcelain. His brother, Paul was a photographer and writer.
Frank Haviland’s friends were the who’s who of the artist world of his time. Along with Amedeo Modigliani, he was a friend and early client of Pablo Picasso, and Georges Braque.
In 1910, Frank Haviland and sculptor, Manolo and De Séverac, moved to Céret, a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. He purchased a monastery which become known at the School of Céret.
I can only imagine the creative energy that occurred when Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Georges Braque, Max Jacob and Auguste Herbin came together at School of Céret.
In 1914, Frank Haviland married Joséphine Laporta, a girl from Céret. Frank Haviland was a noted collector and dealer of cubism.
ChasingART 
I love Modigliani. His work is so unique
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I share you love of Modigliani, Scarlett! He was before his time. During his short and difficult like, the going rate for his paintings was less than $10.00US.
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What a shame!
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Great choice, Rebecca! Modigliani is a unique artist. We have a print in the bedroom. I never get tired of seeing it.
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I share your love of Modigliani, Resa. I was reading a Smithsonian article that during Modigliani’s lifetime, his paintings went for $10. His landlord confiscated some of his work in lieu of rent and then used the canvases to patch old mattresses. Tragic!!!
What I am learning is that when I don’t understand a painting, I am more likely to reject the art form. So when this happens, I say to myself – “Am I like those who rejected Monet? Matisse? Modigliani during their lifetimes?” That is when I stop, pause, reflect and gain more insight into artist’s message.
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I go along with you there.
Patching mattresses… quelle domage!
Do we see any artists who will be Modigliani or Monet or Matisse 100years from now?
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A very good question. I often wonder how we will remember our brilliant street artists. I am glad that you are documenting their artistic creations.
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Thank you for introducing this interesting painter–I had never heard of him or seen any of his paintings. His long faces are unique, I can not say that I find them handsome–but they are very different! You mentioned that he was an admirer of Cubism so he could have possibly been a friend of one of the famous Cubist painters-Picasso and. I am sure he learned much from him!. A study of this type of Art would be an interesting project.
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I must admit, Rebecca, this is not my favourite style of portrait. I prefer more natural looking work. It’s nice to learn about this painter.
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I am fascinated by Amedeo Modigliani’s elongated heads. What was the influence? What I found was that In 1909, he met the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi. He took Brancusi’s advice that he should study African sculpture. Out of his studies he created eight stone heads whose elongated and simplified forms reflected the influence of African sculpture. These were exhibited In 1912 the Salon d’Automne . (I would love to visit this gallery https://www.salon-automne.com/en)
This is a link to one of those sculptures: https://cdn.britannica.com/65/177065-050-4BE2546B/Head-Woman-limestone-sculpture-Amedeo-Modigliani-Washington.jpg
When he returned to his painting in 1915, Modigliani’s experience as a sculptor influenced and changed the way he painted portraits.
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This is a very interesting history, Rebecca. I didn’t know the elongated heads came from Africa. Maybe East Africa. I’ve not seen that style in southern Africa.
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Thank you for the introduction to Frank Haviland. I hadn’t heard of him before.
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Like you, this is the first time that I heard the name Frank “Burty” Haviland. I had difficulty finding his paintings. He was not as prolific as his artist friends. I think jis gift was to bring them together and create an environment that ignited ideas. He eventually travelled to New York and met up with Alfred Stieglitz.
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Thank you for the additional information, Rebecca!
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Another fascinating new-to-me artist. As you say, think of the the conversations that must have taken place at the School of Céret – how I would have loved to be there! X
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What most interested me was that Modigliani added the word “painter” in the title. I thought that, with this title, Haviland’s paintings would come up in an internet search. Surprisingly, very few came up in the search which suggests that he was not as prolific as his artist friends.
It seems that he was more of a collector of art and a strong advocate for creative endeavours. Modigliani was not the only one to paint a portrait of Frank “Burty” Haviland. Juan Gris painted “The Smoker” in 1913. It is a portrait of Burty Haviland which is now in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid
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