Paintings

Francis Chapin

Dubbed the Dean of Chicago Painters in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, Francis Chapin painted images of people he met in the Old Town neighborhood where he lived as well as landscape and figure subjects from his travels to Mexico, Europe and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. In those days, it was not unusual to see Chapin with his easel set up on a street corner. He was also a lithographer and art teacher.

Chapin was born in Bristolville, Ohio. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Washington & Jefferson College and attended the Art Institute of Chicago on a Bryan Lathrop Fellowship. He was a member of the National Academy of Design and

Exhibited: National Academy of Design;  Pennsylvania Academy;  Art Institute of Chicago;

The Whitney Museum of American Art; Salon d’Automne in Paris.

From 1929 to 1946, he was a teacher at the Art Institute and from 1941 to 1946 directed their Summer School. He also taught at the John Herron Art Institute at the Indianapolis Art Museum and the University of Georgia.

In Chicago, Ivan Albright was one of his best friends, and upon the death of Chapin, Albright commented that “He was especially deft in his use of color and in his ability to reach the essence of his subject with a few seemingly casual lines . . . his finished paintings have such a quality of freshness and spontaneity.” (Kennedy 100)

Reference:
Elizabeth Kennedy, “Chicago Modern 1893-1945”
Peter Falk, “Who Was Who in American Art”