Dorothy Fratt
Dorothy Fratt was born in Washington, D.C., on August 10, 1923, to Hugh and Martha Miller. Her father was a photographer and journalist on the staff of The Washington Post. She showed artistic promise by the age of nine, and at fifteen she won first place in an exhibition at the Corcoran. Around that time, she began studying with the Cubist painter Karl Knaths, who became a mentor. In 1940, she studied at the Corcoran School of Art with Nikolai Cikovsky. She then attended Mount Vernon Seminary and College from 1940 to 1942, studying with the art historian Agnes DeLano, and the Phillips Memorial Gallery Art School from 1942 to 1943, again under Knaths.
Fratt held her first solo exhibition at the Washington City Library in 1946, and from 1946 to 1951 she taught at Mount Vernon College. Her work was included in exhibitions at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1948 and 1964. In the 1950s, she was associated with the Washington Color School.
In 1958, Fratt moved to Phoenix, Arizona, with her first husband and their three sons, and she taught color theory and painting privately there for many years. Her work was shown at the Roswell Museum of Art in 1961, and in 1964 she held solo exhibitions at the Tucson Art Center and the Phoenix Art Museum. In 1965, she was included in an exhibition at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. In 1972, she worked with the City of Scottsdale to commission a public sculpture by Louise Nevelson. In 1980, the Scottsdale Center for the Arts presented a solo exhibition of her work. She later married Curtis “Bud” Cooper Jr., a rancher and farmer from a multigenerational Arizona family, and spent summers at the family’s ranch in Williams, Arizona, until his death in 2008. In 2000, she received the Arizona Governor’s Artist of the Year Award.
Dorothy Fratt died on July 7, 2017, at the age of 93. Her work was included in a group exhibition at Museum Art.Plus in Donaueschingen, Germany, in 2018–2019, and the Städtische Galerie in der Reithalle in Paderborn, Germany, mounted a solo exhibition in 2020. In 2024, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art presented the retrospective Dorothy Fratt: Color Mirage. Her work can be found in institutional collections including the Phoenix Art Museum, Tucson Museum of Art, Museum of Northern Arizona, Columbus Museum of Art, New Mexico Museum of Art, and Palm Springs Art Museum.
Sources: Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Wikipedia
Dorothy Fratt was born in Washington, D.C., on August 10, 1923, to Hugh and Martha Miller. Her father was a photographer and journalist on the staff of The Washington Post. She showed artistic promise by the age of nine, and at fifteen she won first place in an exhibition at the Corcoran. Around that time, she began studying with the Cubist painter Karl Knaths, who became a mentor. In 1940, she studied at the Corcoran School of Art with Nikolai Cikovsky. She then attended Mount Vernon Seminary and College from 1940 to 1942, studying with the art historian Agnes DeLano, and the Phillips Memorial Gallery Art School from 1942 to 1943, again under Knaths.
Fratt held her first solo exhibition at the Washington City Library in 1946, and from 1946 to 1951 she taught at Mount Vernon College. Her work was included in exhibitions at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1948 and 1964. In the 1950s, she was associated with the Washington Color School.
In 1958, Fratt moved to Phoenix, Arizona, with her first husband and their three sons, and she taught color theory and painting privately there for many years. Her work was shown at the Roswell Museum of Art in 1961, and in 1964 she held solo exhibitions at the Tucson Art Center and the Phoenix Art Museum. In 1965, she was included in an exhibition at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. In 1972, she worked with the City of Scottsdale to commission a public sculpture by Louise Nevelson. In 1980, the Scottsdale Center for the Arts presented a solo exhibition of her work. She later married Curtis “Bud” Cooper Jr., a rancher and farmer from a multigenerational Arizona family, and spent summers at the family’s ranch in Williams, Arizona, until his death in 2008. In 2000, she received the Arizona Governor’s Artist of the Year Award.
Dorothy Fratt died on July 7, 2017, at the age of 93. Her work was included in a group exhibition at Museum Art.Plus in Donaueschingen, Germany, in 2018–2019, and the Städtische Galerie in der Reithalle in Paderborn, Germany, mounted a solo exhibition in 2020. In 2024, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art presented the retrospective Dorothy Fratt: Color Mirage. Her work can be found in institutional collections including the Phoenix Art Museum, Tucson Museum of Art, Museum of Northern Arizona, Columbus Museum of Art, New Mexico Museum of Art, and Palm Springs Art Museum.
Sources: Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Wikipedia