John F. Francis

Predominantly self-taught as an artist, he worked until 1845 as a portrait painter in central and eastern Pennsylvania.

It was in this period that he began to concentrate on still lifes, which had been established as a popular genre in Philadelphia by Raphaelle Peale and other painters.

Francis became known as a leading painter of luncheon and dessert still lifes,[1] developing an intricate vocabulary of forms required by his specialized subject.

There is often a freshness and a brio to his paint application that successfully balance his sure delineation of form and his establishment of texture.

[1] According to art historian Alfred Frankenstein, "his blond, high-keyed palette always provides one of the most distinctive accents in a general exhibition of American still life".