Born in 1936 in Bridlington, Yorkshire, he studied at the Slade School of Fine Art 1959–61, where his teachers included Claude Rogers, Ceri Richards and Frank Auerbach. He won the prestigious Boise Scholarship and studied at the Royal Academy Stockholm 1962. On his return to the UK, he was given a studio in Portleven, Cornwall, and became a member of the Portleven Group, where his lifelong commitment to abstract painting began.

During the 1960s, he developed what became known as his ‘spot paintings’ as his focus moved from texture to light and colour. These seek to describe the experience rather than the appearance of the landscape. Beanland has commented

My paintings are about asking questions, testing, tempering the surface to achieve a closer approximation to my vision.

His deceptively simple abstract works are influenced by nature, his surroundings and experience. Most recently, he has discovered what he regards as a new and exciting way of making pictures – the use of acrylics on newspaper. He moved to East Anglia in 1966 and still lives in Suffolk with his artist wife Emily Gwynn-Jones.

Frank exhibited in many mixed exhibitions, including Young Contemporaries from 1960.

He died in 2019.

More info HERE.

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