Frederick Sigfred Franck (April 12, 1909 – June 5, 2006) was a painter, sculptor, and author of more than 30 books on

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and other subjects, who was known for his interest in human spirituality. He became a United States citizen in 1945. He was a

dental surgeon A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofacial com ...

by trade, and worked with

Dr. Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsace, Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, ...

in Africa from 1958 to 1961. His sculptures are in the collections of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

, the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

, the

Fogg Art Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

, the

Tokyo National Museum The or TNM is an art museum in Ueno Park in the Taitō ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage ( :ja:国立文化財機構), is considered the oldest national museum in Japa ...

, and the

Cathedral of St. John the Divine The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhood ...

. His major creation was a sculpture garden and park adjacent to his home in

Warwick, New York Warwick is a town in the southwestern part of Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 32,027 at the 2020 census. The town contains three villages (Florida, Greenwood Lake, and Warwick) and eight hamlets (Amity, Bellvale, Ed ...

, which he called ''Pacem in Terris'' ("Peace on Earth"). In 1959, he and his wife, Claske Berndes Franck, purchased the six-acre property, the site of an old grist mill which had become a dumping ground, for $800.
Los Angeles Times obituary, June 19, 2006 They opened Pacem in Terris to the public in 1966. Dr. Franck dedicated it to

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 28 Oc ...

, and the Buddhist teacher

D.T. Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in s ...

. New York Times article about Pacem in Terris, July 7, 2006 More than 70 sculptures adorn the property, which is now operated by a nonprofit foundation.

Bibliography

*''Messenger of the Heart: The Book of Angelus Silesius, with observations by the ancient Zen masters'', (

World Wisdom World Wisdom is an independent American publishing company established in 1980 in Bloomington, Indiana. World Wisdom publishes religious and philosophical texts, including the work of authors such as Frithjof Schuon, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Titus Bur ...

, 2005) *''The Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School and its Contemporaries'', (

, 2004) *''What Matters: Spiritual Nourishment for Head and Heart'', (Skylight Paths Publishing, 2004) *''Ode to the Human Face: Seeing/Molding the Human Face As Meditation'', (Codhill Press, 2004) *''A Passion for Seeing: On Being an Image Maker'', (Codhill Press, 2003) *''A Zen Book of Hours'', (Codhill Press, 2003) *''Seeing Venice: An Eye in Love : An Inner Travelogue With 94 Drawings'', (Codhill Press, 2002) *''What Does It Mean to Be Human?'', (St. Martin's Griffin, 2001) *''Pacem in Terris: A Love Story'', (Codhill Press, 2000) *''Fingers Pointing Toward the Sacred: A Twentieth Century Pilgrimage on the Eastern and Western Way'', (Beacon Point Press, 1994) *''Zen Seeing, Zen Drawing: Meditation in Action'', (

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

, 1993) *''A Little Compendium on That Which Matters'', (St Martins Press, 1993) *''To Be Human Against All Odds: On the Reptile Still Active in Our Brain (Nanzan Studies in Religion and Culture)'', (Asian Humanities Pr, 1991) *''Life Drawing Life: On Seeing/Drawing the Human'', (Great River Books, 1989) *''Echoes from the Bottomless Well'', (Vintage, 1985) *''Art As a Way: A Return to the Spiritual Roots'', (Crossroad Publishing Company, 1981) *''EveryOne: the timeless Myth of "Everyman" reborn'', (Wildwood House Ltd, 1979) *''The Awakened Eye'', (Vintage, 1979) *''An encounter with Oomoto "The great origin": A faith rooted in the ancient mysticism and the traditional arts of Japan'', (Cross Currents, 1975) *''Christ Equals Buddha'', (Wildwood Ho, 1974) *''Zen of Seeing: Seeing/Drawing as Meditation'', (Vintage, 1973) *''Simenon's Paris'', (Dial Press, 1970) *''Exploding church;: From Catholicism to Catholicism'', (Delacorte Press, 1968) *''My Eye is in Love: Revelations on the Act of Seeing by Drawing'', (

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

, 1963) *''African Sketchbook'', (Peter Davies, 1962) *''Days with Albert Schweitzer'', (Peter Davies, 1959) *''Open Wide, Please!'', (Peter Davies, 1957)

References

External links

Pacem in Terris website

An overview about Frederick Frank and his work
from SpiritualityandPractice.com's "Remembering Spiritual Masters" Project.
An interview with some excerpts from his writing.

over zijn werk en afbeeldingen van de kruisweg en het verhaal van de os
Studentenkerk Nijmegen {{DEFAULTSORT:Franck, Frederick 1909 births 2006 deaths Dutch emigrants to the United States Dutch male sculptors Buddhist writers 20th-century Dutch sculptors 20th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters Artists from Maastricht Buddhist artists 20th-century Dutch male artists