Masonite Landscape Paintings

A charming, colorful 1930s oil painting of a young woman in a rowboat by famed Chicago Modern artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). This vibrant harbor scene was most likely paint...

A lovely summer day in a ca. 1950s Lake Michigan harbor, perhaps in Saugatuck, Douglas or at Oxbow! This is a large oil on Masonite painting by notable artist Francis Chapin that is...

A colorful & dynamic ca. 1950s painting of Martha’s Vineyard by notable artist Francis Chapin, featuring The Old Whaler's Church in the background. Artwork size: 12" x 19". Framed...

A picturesque ca. 1940s, horizontal farm scene with a barn & silo, created in oil on Masonite, by Artist Francis Chapin. Painting likely depicts Wisconsin or Michigan. Painting is ...

A charming & diminutive 1930s oil on Masonite view of Martha's Vineyard harbor by notable Chicago artist Francis Chapin. Artwork size: 8 3/4" x 11 3/4". Framed size: 12 1/2" x 15 1/2". Provenance: Estate of the artist. Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, was one of the city’s most popular and celebrated painters in his day. Born at the dawn of the 20th Century in Bristolville, Ohio, Chapin graduated from Washington & Jefferson College near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before enrolling at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922. He would set down deep roots at the Art Institute of Chicago, exhibiting there over 31 times between 1926 and 1951. In 1927 Chapin won the prestigious Bryan Lathrop Fellowship from the Art Institute – a prize that funded the artist’s yearlong study trip to Europe. Upon his return to the United States, Chapin decided to remain in Chicago, noting the freedom Chicago artists have in developing independently of the pressure to conform to pre-existing molds (as was experienced by artists in New York, for example). Chapin became a popular instructor at the Art Institute, teaching there from 1929 to 1947 and at the Art Institute’s summer art school in Saugatuck, Michigan (now called Oxbow) between 1934 – 1938 (he was the director of the school from 1941-1945). A prolific painter, Chapin produced numerous works while traveling in Mexico, France, Spain, Saugatuck and Martha’s Vineyard, where he frequently spent summers and taught at the Old Sculpin Gallery there. Chapin was best recognized for his dynamic and vibrant images of Chicago during the 1930s and 40s. Chapin was a resident of the Old Town neighborhood where he lived and kept his studio on Menomonee Street for many years. Described as a “colorful figure, nearly 6 feet 6 inches tall, and thin, and usually wearing tweeds”, it is easy to imagine Chapin at work observing the busy street life of the city. In addition to his many exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chapin’s work was shown during his lifetime at such institutions as the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia; the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.; the National Academy of Design, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, among others. Francis Chapin’s paintings are represented in the collections the Art Institute of Chicago; the Friedman Collection, Chicago; the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown; the Denver Art Museum; the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse; the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach...

A colorful, vibrant 1930s winter scene painting Saugatuck, Michigan by famed Chicago Modern artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Depicting the Old Fish House on the left, with a ...

A large & delightful oil on Masonite, ca. 1950s, Martha's Vineyard street scene painting by artist Francis Chapin. Image size: 24" x 36". Framed size: 27" x 37". In a painted woo...

A Charming 1950s painting titled "Oak Bluffs, Mass." (Martha's Vineyard) by notable artist Francis Chapin. artwork size: 8" x 10". Framed size: 12 3/4" x 15". Provenance: Estat...

A wonderful 1950s oil on Masonite painting of a truck in a Martha's Vineyard dockyard by notable artist Francis Chapin in a grey, painted wood frame. Estate stamped on reverse. Art...

A large oil on Masonite painting of a street scene in Martha’s Vineyard, with the Old Whaler's Church in the background by artist Francis Chapin. Artwork size: 24" x 36". Framed s...