Frank Ashley 1920-2007 American painter Frank Ashley was born in Lincoln, NE on March 17, 1920. He is best known for his stylized works that capture the motion and rhythm of jazz musicians and horse racing.

Ashley grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and from 1938-41 he studied at the University of Minnesota. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps, and while stationed in London, England, attended St. Martins School of Art. In 1945 he was discharged as a ranking captain, with multiple decorations, including The Purple Heart.

Upon his return to the United States, Ashley continued his studies at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Illinois from 1945-46. He returned to Minnesota, attending the Minneapolis Art Institute, from 1947-48, before moving to New York City where he spent two years at the Art Students League as a student of Reginald Marsh, to whom he also acted as an assistant. In 1957 he produced a large portrait for Alfred Hitchcock's movie Vertigo.

In 1955 he married Betty Brader, also a painter and illustrator. While he was living in New York, Frank Ashley frequented the Metrapole Club where he met many later jazz greats. This early experience and his subsequent friendships with Louis Armstrong and Dave Brubeck in San Francisco provided him with one of his major artistic themes: the world of the jazz.

No less important, however, is his artistic expertise in the arena of the competitive equestrian events. He visited the majority of the renowned tracks around the world, which resulted in equestrian paintings being his other major artistic theme.

He has exhibited his paintings at many of the major racetracks in the United States. Ashley had numerous exhibitions during his lifetime including: Art USA; New York Art Show at Madison Square Garden, where he won the Grand Prix in 1959; the Legion of Honor Invitational in San Francisco, 1962-1964, where he wonthe Alma Sprekels Award; Zantman Art Galleries; Carmel-by-the-Sea; and Oehlschlaeger Galleries in Chicago.

Ashley also exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, the National Academy of Design in New York City, the Santa Barbara (CA) Museum, and several prominent galleries in the United States and England. Institutions holding his work include Syracuse (NY) University, the Oak Lawn Racetrack in Arkansas, the California Jockey Club, and San Francisco (CA) State University. Ashley has been a member since 1970 of the Carmel Art Association.

He died in Monterey, California on December 16, 2007.