Frank Croft is essentially a self-taught artist.  Over the years he painted in his spare time, exhibiting his work in solo and group shows as early as 1984.  In 1983, Croft moved to Santa Fe.  Once there, he began to paint with a group of artists loosely affiliated with Eli Levin.  Until recently, however, his artistic career took a back seat to his 20-plus-year career as an art dealer, including paintings of the Taos Society of Artists and Los Cinco Pintores. Handling paintings by these artists has given Croft a direct link to their technique and their subjects, which he explores in his art, including the landscape of northern New Mexico, its churches, and its Native American cultures. He aims to match the intense light of New Mexico and how it affects the landscape. Croft states, “Every artist of note works with a unique set of colors that is their own. It has taken a long time for me to develop this color strategy and a new color addition rarely appears. When a new color does find its way onto my palette it usually involves a tedious study to get the color the way I want it.” Croft’s work is in many private and public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe and New Mexico Highlands University.

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