| Frank Handlen | |
 Handlen in 2005 | |
| Birth: | 26 September 1916 Brooklyn, New York City, New York State, USA |
| Death: | 25 May 2023 Biddeford, Maine, USA |
| Age: | 106 years, 241 days |
| Country: |  USA
|
| Centenarian | |
Frank W. Handlen (26 September 1916 – 25 May 2023) was an American centenarian and painter.
Biography[]
Frank Handlen was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York State, USA on 26 September 1916, and raised in Caldwell, New Jersey, Handlen depicts ships, the sea and the Maine landscape in oil and pastels. In 1938, his mentor, marine artist Frederick Judd Waugh, encouraged him to go to Maine, "where it will all be before you". Handlen settled first in Biddeford Pool and later in Kennebunkport. As a young man, he worked in Bernie Warner's shipyard on the Kennebunk River and eventually designed and built his own forty-foot, sixteen ton topsail schooner, The Saltwind, which is moored in the Kennebunk River behind his house, very near the site of the old shipyard. In 1994, he was commissioned to create the heroic bronze statue, Our Forebears of the Coast, which stands on the Kennebunkport River Green.
Handlen was a Fellow of The American Society of Marine Artists for 22 years. He illustrated "Seapiece The Story of a Maine Boy" by Will Beale and "The Story of Maine for Young Readers" by Melville Freeman and Estelle Hale Perry. His pastels, oil paintings and pen and ink drawings are extensively owned by private and corporate collectors including The Kennebunkport Historical Society, The Brick Store Museum, MBNA, Sears Roebuck and The St. Botolph Club in Boston.
In September 2016, he celebrated his 100th birthday and became a centenarian.
Frank Handlen died in Biddeford, Maine, USA on 25 May 2023 at the age of 106 years, 241 days.
Gallery[]
References[]
- Frank Handlen BuzzLearn
- Beloved local artist Frank Handlen celebrates 105th birthday Seacoast Online, 8 September 2021
- Kennebunkport’s ‘Renaissance man’ honored at age 105 Portland Press Herald, 1 October 2021
- 106th birthday Facebook Post, 27 September 2022
- Obituary – Frank Handlen The Portland Press Herald, 29 May 2023