Frank-will "regatta At Honfleur" Circa 1930 - Montmartre School - Gen-paul, Leprin

A regatta and sailboats heeling to leeward near the pontoon and the lighthouse of Honfleur.
Frank-Will, who most often accustoms us to panoramas of Paris or the towns of the Normandy coast, has here created in watercolour a rare composition with dynamic expression.
Frank-Will skillfully wielded watercolor techniques, and his oeuvre includes a large number of watercolors, including this one created around 1930, at the height of his artistic maturity. The brushstrokes are light, and some colors, royal blue, brick red, or green, come as a pleasant surprise amidst a palette somewhere between white, black and brown.

Frank William Boggs was born to a father who was already a renowned painter, Frank-Boggs, on March 13, 1900, in Nanterre in the Paris suburbs.
From the age of 10, Frank asserted himself as a painter at heart, but most often he was left to his own devices. His father refused to give him any advice, so he learned on his own.
His first paintings date from 1916, landscapes of the area around Autouillet, which he signed "Franque". Then he signed "Frank" in 1917, "William Frank" in 1918, "Franck-Will" in 1919 and finally "Frank-Will" definitively in 1921.
Very early on Frank-Will met Gen-Paul (1895-1975), whom he introduced to music because his passion at the time was the hunting horn. Together they "begging" by playing in the courtyards of Belleville and Ménilmontant, together they also painted views of Paris, his first favorite theme.
His vacations in the 1920s and 1930s are known to us and allow the dating of certain works: Normandy (among others Rouen and Honfleur) in 1922, La Rochelle in 1926, Amiens in 1929, Barfleur in 1930.
With Marcel Leprin (1891-1932) whom he met at the Henri Bureau gallery, he visited Moret-sur-Loing, Auxerre and Avallon.
On August 13, 1936 he married Victoire Royer. Together they would run a gallery in Le Tréport where they would sell watercolors. But unable to give up Montmartre and his bohemian life, he separated from his wife and returned to live in Paris, reinvesting his former paternal studio.
He died in Paris on December 29, 1950 following a surgical operation.
Many of his works are in public collections:
United States:
Orlando (Florida) Mennello Museum of American Art.
France:
Limay Town Hall - Menton, Museum of Fine Arts - Meudon, Museum of Art and History - Saint-Malo, Museum of History of the city and country of Malouin - Usclas-d'Hérault Town Hall - Versailles, Lambinet Museum.
Switzerland:
Petit Palais in Geneva.

Watercolor and charcoal on paper in perfect condition, signed and located "Frank-Will - Honfleur" lower left.
Size : 16,1 x 25,2 Inches without frame and 22 x 31,1 Incheswith its wooden frame with gilded patina