Alfred Frankenstein

Who was Alfred Frankenstein?

Alfred Victor Frankenstein was an art and music critic, author and professional musician.

He was the long-time art and music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. Noted for championing American art, his most famous book is After The Hunt, a volume that examined the trompe-l'œil movement in late 19th century and early 20th-century American art, focussing on the painters William Harnett and John Frederick Peto. Among his colleagues, he was noted for his wit and his lack of tolerance for pretension.

Prior to becoming a journalist and critic, he played clarinet in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He was married to the concert violinist Sylvia Lent.

He also was professor of Art History at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1970s.