Born in Philadelphia, John Francis became a key artist in the mid-19th century revival of still life painting in America but was not recognized during his lifetime. His focus was "luncheon" or... Read full biography
Born in Philadelphia, John Francis became a key artist in the mid-19th century revival of still life painting in America but was not recognized during his lifetime. His focus was "luncheon" or "dessert" type subjects, which he rendered in bright, radiant color, a breaking away from the stern mode... Read full biography
Born in Philadelphia, John Francis became a key artist in the mid-19th century revival of still life painting in America but was not recognized during his lifetime. His focus was "luncheon" or "dessert" type subjects, which he rendered in bright, radiant color, a breaking away from the stern mode taught by the Peale family of artists in Philadelphia. His style is highly realistic and arguably fits the criteria of trompe l'oeil in that the objects are to scale, are arranged on a flat plane, and... Read full biography
Born in Philadelphia, John Francis became a key artist in the mid-19th century revival of still life painting in America but was not recognized during his lifetime. His focus was "luncheon" or "dessert" type subjects, which he rendered in bright, radiant color, a breaking away from the stern mode taught by the Peale family of artists in Philadelphia. His style is highly realistic and arguably fits the criteria of trompe l'oeil in that the objects are to scale, are arranged on a flat plane, and thrust forward into the viewer space. There is a suggestion of some disorder, giving the impression that a person has just been there. It is also thought that he influenced Michael Harnett, the founder of trompe l'oeil still life painting, and at... Read full biography
Born in Philadelphia, John Francis became a key artist in the mid-19th century revival of still life painting in America but was not recognized during his lifetime. His focus was "luncheon" or "dessert" type subjects, which he rendered in bright, radiant color, a breaking away from the stern mode taught by the Peale family of artists in Philadelphia. His style is highly realistic and arguably fits the criteria of trompe l'oeil in that the objects are to scale, are arranged on a flat plane, and thrust forward into the viewer space. There is a suggestion of some disorder, giving the impression that a person has just been there. It is also thought that he influenced Michael Harnett, the founder of trompe l'oeil still life painting, and at least one work by John Frances was passed off as a painting by Harnett. Most of his work is unsigned and undated, but it is thought that hi... Read full biography
John F Francis - Artist Info
About John F Francis: Books
Books & Publications (63)
Publications based on askART research. List may not be comprehensive.
The Artists Bluebook 34,000 North American Artists to March 2005
2005
AskART.com Inc. - Dunbier, Lonnie Pierson (Editor)
479 pages
Davenport's Art Reference: The Gold Edition
2005
Davenport, Ray
2,421 pages
American Beauty: Paintings from Detroit Institute of Arts, 1770-1920 (Exhibition catalog)
2002
Beal, Graham
128 pages (color)
An American Palette: Works from Collection of John/Dolores Beck
2000
Florida Museum of Fine Arts
0 pages
Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975: Three Volumes
1999
Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor)
3,724 pages
150 Years of Philadelphia Still Life Painting (Exhibition catalog)
1997
Schwarz, Robert Devlin
130 pages (color)
Gracious Plenty American Still-Life Art from Southern Collections
1996
Pennington, Estill Curtis
127 pages
American Art History and Culture
1994
Craven, Wayne
687 pages (color)
American Paintings at the High Museum of Art
1994
High Museum of Art
216 pages (color)
Master Paintings from the Butler Institute of American Art
1994
Sweetkind, Irene/W H Gerdts
372 pages (color)
The Apple of America The Apple in 19th Century American Art (Exhibition catalog)
1993
Weber, Bruce
48 pages (color)
William M Harnett (exhibition several artists) (Exhibition catalog)
1992
Bolger, Doreen; Marc Simpson; John Wilmerding
333 pages (color)
Images of America The Painter's Eye, 1833-1925 (Exhibition catalog)
1991
Baekland, Frederick
160 pages (color)
American Paintings in the Detroit Institute of Arts (vol 1)
1991
Detroit Institute of the Arts
340 pages (color)
American Art A Catalogue/Los Angeles County
1991
Fort, Ilene/Michael Quick
510 pages (color)
American Views Essays on American Art
1991
Wilmerding, John
357 pages (color)
Art Across America: New England, New York, Mid-Atlantic (Volume One)
1990
Gerdts, William H
421 pages (color)
Art Across America: The Far Midwest, Rocky Mountain West, Southwest, Pacific Volume Three
1990
Gerdts, William H
396 pages (color)
Art What Thou Eat Images of Food in American Art (Exhibition catalog)
1990
Gustafson, Donna (others)
191 pages (color)
Cornell Collects: A Celebration of American Art from the Collections of Alumni and Friends, Cornell University (Exhibition catalog)
1990
Leavitt, Thomas (Intro); Richard Schwartz; Frank H.T. Rhodes
196 pages (color)
The American Paintings (in the) Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
1989
Fresella-Lee, Nancy
222 pages (color)
Annual Exhibition Record, 1807-1870, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Exhibition catalog)
1988
Falk, Peter Hastings
472 pages
The American Painting Collection of the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery
1988
Geske, Norman and Karen O. Janovy
376 pages (color)
An American Gallery (Exhibition catalog)
1987
Richard York Gallery
88 pages (color)
The Portrait in Britain and America with Biographical Dictionary of Portraitists 1680-1914
1987
Simon, Robin
255 pages (color)
The Figure in American Art 1764-1983 Three Simultaneous Exhibitions: Kennedy Galleries (Exhibition catalog)
1986
Baur, John I.H.
72 pages (color)
Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers
1986
Opitz, Glenn B (editor)
1,081 pages
Treasures from the National Museu of American Art (Exhibition catalog)
1985
Kloss, William/C C Eldredge
254 pages (color)
25th Anniversary Exhibition Selected American Paintings (Exhibition catalog)
1984
Adams, Henry
120 pages
Kennedy Galleries Profiles of American Artists
1984
Deak, Gloria-Gilda
288 pages
Profiles of American Artists Represented by Kennedy Galleries
1981
Deak, Gloria-Gilda
163 pages
Painters of the Humble Truth American Still Life 1801-1939
1981
Gerdts, William H
292 pages (color)
A Kennedy Galleries Selection of American Art for Public and Private Collectors
1981
Kennedy Galleries
81 pages (color)
American Art in the Newark Museum Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture
1981
Newark Museum
431 pages (color)
The Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art
1981
Rugoff, Milton
669 pages (color)
An American Perspective: Nineteenth Century Art From the Collection of Jo Ann & Julian Ganz (Exhibition catalog)
1981
Wilmerding, John; Linda Ayres, Earl Powell
180 pages (color)
American Art from the Gallery's Collection October 4 - 25, 1980
1980
Galleries, Hirschl and Adler
112 pages (color)
Dictionary of American Art
1979
Baigell, Mathew
390 pages
Arts in America/A Bibliography Volume 2 (Painting and Graphics)
1979
Karpel, Bernard/Ruth Spiegel
736 pages
The Fine Arts in America
1979
Taylor, Joshua C
264 pages
Kaleidoscope of American Painting: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century (Exhibition catalog)
1978
William Rockhill Nelson G of A
72 pages (color)
American Art to 1900 Painting, Sculpture, Architecture
1977
Brown, Milton W
631 pages (color)
The Chosen Object European and American Still Life (Exhibition catalog)
1977
Cloudman, Ruth H
66 pages
Three Hundred Years of American Art In The Chrysler Museum (Exhibition catalog)
1976
Anderson, Dennis R (Introductory Essay)
270 pages (color)
American Cornucopia 19th Century Still Lifes and Studies (Exhibition catalog)
1976
Brindle, John V/Sally Secrest
48 pages (color)
A Panorama of American Painting The John J McDonough Collection (Exhibition catalog)
1975
Bullard, E John
119 pages (color)
American Painting and Sculpture: Delaware Art Museum
1975
Hawkes, Elizabeth H (Curator and Essay)
182 pages (color)
19th Century American Painting From the Collection of Henry Melville Fuller (Exhibition catalog)
1971
Gerdts, William H
92 pages
American Still Life Painting
1971
Gerdts, William; Russell Burke
264 pages (color)
The Reality of Appearance: Trompe L'Oeil Tradition in American Painting (Exhibition catalog)
1970
Frankenstein, Alfred
156 pages (color)
Forty Masterworks of American Art (Exhibition catalog)
1970
Hirschl & Adler Galleries
57 pages (color)
19th Century America Hundredth Anniversary/Metropolitan Museum (Exhibition catalog)
1970
Howat, John K (others)
220 pages (color)
After the Hunt: W Harnett and Other American Still Life Painters
1969
Frankenstein, Alfred
202 pages
American Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Two Volumes)
1969
Rathbone, Perry Townsend (Ed)
600 pages (color)
The American Vision Paintings 1825-1875 (Exhibition catalog)
1968
Public Education Association
64 pages (color)
Reality, Romanticism, Realism Two Centuries of American Painting
1967
Kennedy Galleries
60 pages
The Kirby Collection Historical Paintings
1963
Lafayette College
54 pages (color)
History Of American Painting: That Wilder Image Painting of America's Native School (Vol. 111)
1962
Flexner, James Thomas
407 pages
American Painting of the 19th Century (McMurray Collection) (Exhibition catalog)
1960
Pasadena Art Museum
64 pages
The New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America 1564-1860
1957
Groce, George; David Wallace
759 pages
After the Hunt: William Harnett and Other American Still Life Painters