|
About Francis F. Brown
Francis F. Brown was a child prodigy. During summer vacations, while attending Muncie High School, Brown received instruction from *J. Ottis Adams in Brookville, Indiana. The course Adams offered lasted seven weeks, so Brown rented a room at The Hermitage to be near his instructor, whom he described in later years as "a wonderfully kind and inspiring teacher" (Eldredge, 1974). Later, Brown enrolled at the John *Herron Art Institute and studied under *William Forsyth, a teacher known for his stern manner. The young artist’s progress allowed him to teach at Winegate, Mitchell, and Richmond – all towns in Indiana. This experience prepared him for a post in the art department at Ball State University, which he would maintain for more than three decades. Brown developed a personal style that bordered on impressionism; he utilized a system of juxtaposed strokes of contrasting color, without accepting impressionism fully.
In time, Brown would understand and assimilate the formula of impressionism. His numerous canvases display the typical stylistic features of the aesthetic. Unlike many other impressionists, Brown was willing to expand the boundaries of impressionism to achieve the effects he sought. Typically, small strokes of colorful pigment define prairie lands, which roll in the distance, as reflective ribbon-like streams separate expansive patterns of tall grasses, which seem to sway rhythmically in the breeze of a warm summer day; conversely, an ice-jammed stream strains to break free from its snow-covered banks – spindly foreground willows are silhouetted against not-too distant hills, which serve as a backdrop to a scene whose winter light somehow punctuates the cold, overcast sky. Brown’s ability to select his slices of Hoosier countryside and to record the effects of atmosphere was superior to many of his older colleagues, who eventually sacrificed their conservative palettes a great deal to exploit decorative artificiality.
There is another side of Brown’s impressionism, which is revealed in a few exceptionally spontaneous pictorial statements. These seldom exhibited paintings demonstrate that the artist captured the essence of midwestern atmosphere and local color; capturing the *Spirit of Place. His direct brushwork and rapid manipulation of bright pigment are successful in simplifying elements and forms. Probably inspired by his earliest days with Adams at The Hermitage, Brown selected uncomplicated slices of Indiana scenery, which he presented with an honesty and directness, much like most things fully Hoosier in content.
Brown achieved an enviable local reputation, but exhibited regularly at national shows, including those at the *Hoosier Salon (1925-64), the Cleveland Museum of Art, and others. Although he experimented occasionally, his style never deviated greatly beyond the boundaries of impressionism. Some of his later, more broadly brushed still-life pictures reveal a spontaneity similar to his early landscapes. Brown was a member of the Indiana Artists Club, the Western Art Association, and other local and national art organizations. After his death at the age of eighty, The Muncie Star described his art as the kind which "didn’t attempt to cure the World’s ills or point out a message." Indeed, Brown’s imagery was no more or less than basic midwestern impressionism |
Paintings by Francis F. Brown
| Autumn Floral Arrangement |
| oil on canvas: 24 x 20 inches |
| signed: lower right |
|
| |
Click Picture to Enlarge
|
| Garden Flowers |
| oil on canvas: 24 x 20 inches |
| signed: lower right |
|
| |
Click Picture to Enlarge
|
|
)