Artist Museums

John F Francis

John F. Francis (1808 - 1886) was active/lived in Pennsylvania.  John Francis is known for Food still life and portrait painting.

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 his later work was somewhat freer in style than the earlier.

The early part of his career, he w   ...  [Displaying 1000 of 2951 characters.]  Artist bio

Artist auction records

.  askART's database currently holds 181 auction lots for John F Francis (of which 113 auction records sold and 0 are upcoming at auction.)

Artist artworks for sale and wanted

.  There are 0 artworks for sale on our website by galleries and art dealers . There are 5 galleries and art dealers listing works of art by John F Francis as either "Wanted" or "For Sale" .

Research resources

.  askART lists John F Francis in 1 of its research Essays. John F Francis has 15 artist signature examples available in our database.

Similar artists

.  There are 24 similar (related) artists for John F Francis available:    Severin Roesen,  John Frederick Peto,  William Michael Harnett,  George Henry Hall,  Paul LaCroix,  Sanford Robinson Gifford,  Thomas Birch,  Seymour Joseph Guy,  Charles Henry Demuth,  John Frederick Kensett,  Asher Brown Durand,  Thomas Pollack Anshutz,  Edward Lamson Henry,  William Sidney Mount,  Thomas Doughty,  Thomas Cowperthwaite Eakins,  William James Glackens,  Eastman Johnson,  Frederick Carl Frieseke,  Everett Shinn,  William Mason Brown,  William Stanley Haseltine,  Rembrandt Peale,  Edward Moran