Francis Chapin Art
American, 1899-1965
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; the Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah and the Brooklyn Museum of Art, among others.(Biography provided by Richard Norton Gallery, LLC)
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Artist: Francis Chapin
A ca 1954 Watercolor & Ink Image of a Notre Dame Football Game by Francis Chapin
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1954 watercolor and ink on paper image of a Notre Dame football game by artist Francis Chapin.
Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of...
Category
1950s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Ink
Watercolor & Ink on Paper Image of a Notre Dame Football Game by Francis Cahpin
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1954, watercolor and ink on paper image of a Notre Dame football game by artist Francis Chapin.
Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “D...
Category
1950s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
A ca. 1954, drawing of a Notre Dame Football Game by Artist Francis Chapin
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1954 pastel & charcoal on paper drawing of a Notre Dame football game by artist Francis Chapin.
Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “D...
Category
1950s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Paper, Charcoal, Pastel
Watercolor on Paper Study of a Notre Dame Football Game by Artist Francis Chapin
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1954 watercolor of a football scrimmage at Notre Dame, by artist Francis Chapin. This was a study for a painting he created for the University in 1954. The original painting ...
Category
1950s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Untitled (Martha’s Vineyard)
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A colorful view of Martha's Vineyard (Depicting Edgartown's main street) by Francis Chapin, from around 1950.
Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by...
Category
1950s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Masonite, Oil
Vineyard Light
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A painting depicting a lighthouse in Martha's Vineyard by Francis Chapin, from around 1950.
Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, w...
Category
1950s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Board, Oil
Oak Bluffs, Mass. (Martha’s Vineyard)
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A view of Oak Bluffs, MA on Martha's Vineyard by Francis Chapin, from around 1950.
Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, was one of...
Category
1950s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Masonite, Oil
Untitled (Vineyard Harbor)
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A colorful view of Martha's Vineyard by Francis Chapin, from the 1930s.
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...
Category
1930s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Masonite, Oil
Nantucket Steamer
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A gem of a painting depicting a Nantucket lighthouse by Francis Chapin, from around 1950.
Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, was...
Category
1950s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Oil, Board
Edgartown Yacht Club
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A striking view of the Edgartown Yacht Club on Martha's Vineyard by Francis Chapin, from around 1958.
Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his col...
Category
1950s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Color, Lithograph
Edgartown Harbor
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A lithograph with pastel depicting the Edgartown Harbor on Martha's Vineyard by Francis Chapin, from around 1958.
Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters...
Category
1950s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Lithograph, Pastel
Edgartown Harbor
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A view of Edgartown Harbor on Martha's Vineyard by Francis Chapin, from around 1958.
Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, was one ...
Category
1950s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Lithograph
Yellow Sky at Menemsha
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A colorful view of Menemsha in Martha's Vineyard by Francis Chapin, from around 1950.
Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, was one...
Category
1950s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Masonite, Oil
Afternoon Race, Edgartown
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A view of an afternoon race in Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard by Francis Chapin, from 1964.
Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, w...
Category
1960s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Lithograph
Untitled
By Francis Chapin
Located in Dallas, TX
Francis Chapin was one of the most celebrated painters in Chicago during his lifetime. When he was a young art student, Valley House founder, Donald Vogel, painted with "Chape" on th...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Untitled (Boat Repair)
By Francis Chapin
Located in Dallas, TX
Francis Chapin was one of the most celebrated painters in Chicago during his lifetime. When he was a young art student, Valley House founder, Donald Vogel, painted with "Chape" on th...
Category
1940s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Untitled
By Francis Chapin
Located in Dallas, TX
Francis Chapin was one of the most celebrated painters in Chicago during his lifetime. When he was a young art student, Valley House founder, Donald Vogel, painted with "Chape" on th...
Category
1930s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Ink, Paper, Watercolor
Little River
By Francis Chapin
Located in Sheffield, MA
Francis Chapin
American 1899-1965
Little River
Oil on canvas
28 by 40 in. W/frame 38 by 50 in.
Dubbed the Dean of Chicago Painters in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, Francis Chapin painte...
Category
1920s Post-Impressionist Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Oil
Untitled
By Francis Chapin
Located in Dallas, TX
Francis Chapin was one of the most celebrated painters in Chicago during his lifetime. When he was a young art student, Valley House founder, Donald Vogel, painted with "Chape" on th...
Category
1930s American Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Untitled
By Francis Chapin
Located in Dallas, TX
Francis Chapin was one of the most celebrated painters in Chicago during his lifetime. When he was a young art student, Valley House founder, Donald Vogel, painted with "Chape" on th...
Category
1930s Modern Francis Chapin Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
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Francis Chapin art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Francis Chapin art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Francis Chapin in paint, oil paint, masonite and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Francis Chapin art, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Frank Wilcox, Alfred Bendiner, and Harold Haydon. Francis Chapin art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $850 and tops out at $12,500, while the average work can sell for $1,800.