Artist
Peter De Francia
British, 1921–2012
Peter De Francia was a British artist. 2 works are cataloged here, principally at Museum of Modern Art. Peter De Francia was born in Beaulieu-sur-Mer.
Overview
Peter Laurent de Francia (25 January 1921 – 19 January 2012) was an Italian-British artist, who was Professor of Painting at the Royal College of Art (RCA), London, from 1972 to 1986. His paintings and drawing are included in art collections in Britain, and he was the author of two books on Fernand Léger, Leger: The Great Parade (Painters on Painting) (1969) and Fernand Léger (1983), and of several articles on art. Influenced by nineteenth-century socialist painters such as Gustave Courbet and Honoré Daumier, as well as by socially committed artists of his time like Renato Guttuso, Pablo Picasso, Max Beckmann and George Grosz, de Francia used subjects that exposed the contradictions in everyday life to try to inspire change.
Biography
De Francia was born in Beaulieu-sur-Mer Alpes Maritimes, France to an Italian father, Laurent Fernand de Francia, and an English mother, Alice Groom. He grew up in Paris and was educated at Paris's American school, followed by studies in art at the Academy of Brussels (1938–40), and after settling in London, at the Slade School of Fine Art, University of London, in the years 1945-1948. He worked at the Canadian Government Exhibition Commission in Ottawa (1949–1950) and in the Architects' Department of the American Museum in New York City (1950–1951). From 1953 to 1968, he was a tutor in the Department of Art History and Complementary Studies at St Martin's School of Art, London (1953–1968), and from 1963 to 1969 also tutored in the Department of Art History and Complementary Studies at the Royal College of Art (RCA). He was Principal of the Department of Fine Art, Goldsmiths' College, University of London (1969–72), and from 1972 to 1986 was Professor of Painting at the RCA. He is buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery.
Selected exhibitions
2012 - Peter de Francia. An Intimate View, James Hyman Gallery, London 2011 - Peter de Francia. Paintings: A 90th Birthday Retrospective, James Hyman Gallery, London 2009 - Peter de Francia. Art World Drawings, James Hyman Gallery, London 2008 - Modern Myths, New York Studio School (catalogue), New York 2007-08 - The Ship of Fools: Peter de Francia in Focus, Pallant House, Chichester 2006 - Peter de Francia, Tate Britain (brochure, interview by Philip Dodd), London 2005 - After the Bombing, James Hyman Gallery, London 2004 - Drawings, The Gallery, Wimbledon School of Art, London 2002 - Peter de Francia: Fables and Other Drawings: 1990-2001, Queen's Gallery, British Council, New Delhi, India 1999 - Peter de Francia: Drawings, Ruskin School, Oxford Peter de Francia: Ballets Africains: Drawings, The Place, London 1996 - Peter de Francia: Drawings 1993-96, Austin/Desmond Fine Art, London 1995 - Peter de Francia, Gloria Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus 1991 - Peter de Francia, Centre for Contemporary Art, New Delhi, India 1987 - Peter de Francia: Paintings and drawings, Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield 1989 - Peter de Francia: Untitled, Frith Street Gallery, London 1990 - Peter de Francia, Pomeroy Purdy Gallery, London 1987 - Peter de Francia: Retrospective, Camden Arts Centre, London 1983 - Peter de Francia, Forum Gallery, New York 1980 - Peter de Francia, New Art Centre, London 1978 - Peter de Francia, Gallery of the Institute of Cultural Relations, Budapest, Hungary 1977 - Peter de Francia: Retrospective, Camden Arts Centre, London & New 57 Gallery, Edinburgh 1976 - Peter de Francia, New Art Centre, London 1969 - Peter de Francia, New 57 Gallery, Edinburgh 1962 - Peter de Francia, Forum Gallery, New York 1962 - Peter de Francia, Gallery of the Union of Czech Writers, Prague 1961 - Peter de Francia, Galerie d'Eendt, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 1959 - Peter de Francia, Colonna Gallery, Milan, Italy 1958 - Peter de Francia, Waddington Galleries, London (catalogue) Peter de Francia, Colonna Gallery, Milan, Italy.
Selected publications
Impressionism, Methuen & Co., 1956. 62 pp The Great Parade (Painters on Painting). Worthing: Little Hampton Book Services Ltd, 1969. 32 pp. ISBN 0304932779. Fernand Léger, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983. 288 pp. ISBN 0300030673. Peter de Francia: Fables, Maruts Press, 2002. ISBN 0954305205 Peter de Francia Portraits, James Hyman Fine Art, 2006.
Collections represented
Museum
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