Frank Marsden London was born in the small Southern town of Pittsboro in central North Carolina in 1876. When he reached adulthood, London attended the University of North Carolina for two years before moving to New York City to pursue a career in the arts. While in New York he studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and with William Merritt Chase at the Chase School of Art. London also traveled to Europe where he was very inspired by the French modernist, Paul Cezanne, and perhaps by the work of the Surrealists.
Following the completion of his art education, London returned to North Carolina. He established an ecclesiastical art business and designed stained glass windows and other decorative art for churches. An example of his stained glass work can be seen at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Raleigh. However, in 1923, London sold his business and dedicated the rest of his life to painting, his true passion. He was an active member of the Woodstock Art Association in Upstate New York and he held several exhibitions at the North Carolina Museum of Art. His work can also be viewed at the Mint Museum in Charlotte and at the University of North Carolina. He died in 1945.