Charles Fracé

At the urging of his wife Elke, Fracé took a sabbatical from commercial illustrating in 1972 and began painting for his own enjoyment. He proceeded to paint from memory an American eagle he had observed at Walking Dunes on the coast of Long Island. Unsure that the painting represented how he really felt about wildlife he put the painting into storage in a closet. His wife took the painting to a gallery in Mattituck, New York, seeking a professional opinion and with the urging of the gallery owners left it with them for display. It sold in two hours.[10]

In 1973, he left the world of commercial illustration and concentrated on producing wildlife oil paintings. Also that year he started a business relationship with Frame House, a publisher of wildlife prints. His first two limited edition print releases, African Lion and Tiger, sold out shortly after release. In 1974, he relocated Nashville, Tennessee,[11] and embarked on a five-week trip to Africa, where he refined his skill in painting big cats,[12] which became one of the hallmarks of his work. Early in his career, Frace adopted a principle called "the Three A's, in which he demands of himself that his paintings be Artistic, Alive, and Accurate".[13]

Over the next two decades, over 100 of Fracé's paintings were issued as limited edition prints, making him one of the most successful wildlife artists of all time.[14] By the early 1980s, Fracé was described as "America's premier wildlife artist".[15] A 1981 article described his "stature as a painter of the world's most beautiful animals is virtually unrivaled", and noted that "Fracé never paints an animal he has not seen for himself or touched with his own hand".[16] He was commissioned to paint the official portrait of 9Lives mascot Morris the Cat in 1976,[11] and by the National Retriever Club to paint their 1983 stamp print.[15]

In 1982, Fracé was profiled in the book, The Art of Charles Fracé, and a much more substantial profile, Nature's Window—Charles Fracé, was published in 1992.[1][17] His work was also profiled in magazines including U.S. Art and Wildlife Art News.[1] Fracé's paintings have been highlighted as exemplary of techniques used to capture difficult features such as the dense fur of the grizzly bear, and the feathers of birds in flight.[18] In 1987, Fracé established The Fracé Fund For Wildlife Preservation,[19] a charitable fund supporting wildlife organizations.[1] Their first donations was of trees and foliage plants to Zoo Atlanta.[19]

In 1991, he was selected as one of four inaugural members of U.S. Art magazine's "Artists' Hall of Fame",[20] and from November 1992 to May 1993, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. hosted a one-man exhibition of his work, The American Wildlife Image and Charles Fracé,[1] that featured over 36 of his paintings.