Robert Frame began his art career in the mid 1940's. He attended Pasadena City College, Pomona College in Claremont, and from 1947 to 1950 under Henry Lee McFee. Frame received several awards in the late 1940's and early 1950's, among these were awards from The National Academy of Design in New York and the Pasadena Art Museum in California. His group showings include San Francisco Museum of Art, DeYoung Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Phoenix Museum of Art and many others. Frame taught art at Santa Barbara City College from 1966 until 1986.Frame often began a work by sketching an architectonic form that provided the painting with a solid compositional base. He would then proceed to develop spontaneous imagery within these forms. In this way, Frame built his works to result in paintings of strong design and fluidity.