1921-2012
Peter de Francia initially established his reputation in the 1950s with his powerful politically and socially enagaged paintings and drawings. There may be precedents for Peter de Francia's work in that of Goya, Beckmann, Grosz, Picasso and Guttuso, but his is a distinctly personal vision, as relevant today as it was half a century ago. One of his major painting of the 1950s, The Bombing of Sakiet, has for many years been on display at Tate Modern and another large-scale political work, The Execution of Beloyannis was included in the recent publication, 1001 Pictures to See before You Die.
Whether de Francia's subjects are real or imagined, whether he uses the language of myth or fable, what always comes through is the artist's engagement with people and above all his intense humanity. He exposes the horror of man's treatment of man, but there are also intimations of something better - a world of friendship and camaraderie, of humour and simple pleasures.
Perhaps most famed for his drawing, de Francia was also a powerful painter, whose influence on future generations was also spread through his teaching at the Royal College of Art and his writing, from early days as a critic to a major monograph on Fernand Leger.
Aspects of Peter de Francia's work have been presented in a number of exhibitions at James Hyman Gallery in recent years and in January 2011 James Hyman Fine Art presented a major exhibition that included large scale paintings in celebration of the artist's ninetieth birthday.
The Estate of Peter de Francia is represented by James Hyman Fine Art.
Peter de Francia
1921
Born, Beaulieu, Alpes Maritimes, France
1938-40
Education: Academy of Brussels
1945-48
Slade School, University of London
Appointments:
1949-50
Canadian Government Exhibition Commission, Ottawa
1950-51
Architects' Department, American Museum, New York
1951-52
Talks Producer, BBC Television
Tutor, Department of Art History and Complementary Studies, St Martin's School of Art, London
Tutor, Department of Art History and Complementary Studies, Royal College of Art, London
1969-72
Principal, Department of Fine Art, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Professor of Painting (postgraduate), Royal College of Art, London
DAAD Fellowship, Berlin
Visiting Professor, University of Baroda
Visiting tutor, School of Fine Art, Nicosia
1992
Visiting tutor, New York Studio School
1994
Visiting tutor, Vermont Studio Center
2003-6
The Bombing of Sakiet on display at Tate Modern
2006
de Francia display room at Tate Britain
2011
The Bombing of Sakiet on display at Tate Britain
2012
Died 19 January 2012
Solo Exhibitions
2011
Peter de Francia. Paintings: A 90th Birthday Retrospective, James Hyman Gallery, London
2009de Francia. Art World Drawings, James Hyman Gallery, London
2008
Peter de Francia: A Sideways Glance, Charleston
Modern Myths, New York Studio School (catalogue), New York
2007-8
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
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 Group Exhibitions
2011
Beyond The Human Clay, James Hyman Gallery, London
2010
Rediscoveries: Modern British Drawings, James Hyman Gallery, London
2009
Museum Quality. Important Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, James Hyman Gallery, London
2007
A Tribute to Sir Colin St John Wilson, James Hyman Gallery, London
2006-7
Home and Away, James Hyman Gallery, London
2006
Portraits, James Hyman Gallery, London
Drawing Breath, to mark 10 years of the Jerwood Drawing Prize, The Gallery, Wimbledon College of Art, London
National Art School Galleries, Sydney, Australia,
Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
Aberdeen Foyer/Robert Gray University
2006
Drawing Inspiration, Abbot Hall Art Gallery/Lakeland Arts Trust, Kendal (catalogue)
Portraits: Andrews, Auerbach, Bevan, Coldstream, de Francia, Freud, Kossoff, Moynihan, Paolozzi, James Hyman Gallery, London
Wilson Gift, Pallant House, Chichester
New Directions: Paintings and drawings from the 1950s and 1960s by Michael Andrews, Peter de Francia, Derrick Greaves and Robert Medley, James Hyman Gallery, London
2004
Drawn Together (five artists), Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
1997
Modern British Art: The first hundred years, Pallant House, Chichester
2000
Carnivalesque, Hayward Gallery, London/Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, national touring exhibition, Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, City Art Centre, Edinburgh
1989
Blasphemies, Ecstasies, Cries, Serpentine Gallery, London
School of London: Works on paper, Odette Gilbert Gallery, London
1987
Human Interest, Cornerhouse, Manchester and Arts Council tour
Art History: Artists look at contemporary Britain, Hayward Gallery, London
1985-6
In Their Circumstances, Usher Art Gallery, Lincoln, Ashley Gallery, Epsom, Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, Crawford Centre for the Arts, University of St Andrew's, Peter Scott Gallery, University of Lancaster, Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston-upon-Hull
1984
The Forgotten Fifties, Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield and Camden Arts Centre, London
1983
Britain salutes New York, 3 British artists, Carole Robb, Peter de Francia, Thomas Newbolt, Forum Art Gallery, New York
1982
The Hayward Annual, British Drawing, Hayward Gallery, London
The Subjective Eye: New tendencies in British figurative art, University Gallery, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
1980
British Art 1940-1980 (Arts Council Collection), Hayward Gallery, London
1979-80
Narrative Painting, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
, Bristol, City Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on- Trent, Fruit Market Gallery, Edinburgh
1977
British Painting 1952-1977, Royal Academy of Arts, London (catalogue)
20th-Century Drawing, Marlborough Gallery, London
Human Clay, Hayward Gallery, London (catalogue)
1975
Body and Soul, Peter Moores Liverpool Project 3, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1966
Survey '66, Figurative Painters, Hampstead Art Centre, London (catalogue)
Pittsburgh International, Pittsburgh, USA
1956
Looking Forward 2, South London Art Gallery
1952
Looking Forward, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
Collections
Arts Council of Great Britain
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
British Council, New Delhi
British Museum, London
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield
Imperial War Museum, London
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Museum of Modern Art, Prague
National Portrait Gallery, London
Pallant House, Chichester, Wilson Gift
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
Tate, London
Ulster Museum, Belfast
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Wimbledon School of Art
Publications
de Francia, P., Impressionism, Methuen & Co., 1956.
de Francia, P., & Leger, F., Painters On Painting - Peter De Francia On Leger's 'The Great Parade', Cassell, 1969.
de Francia, P., Peter de Francia: Fables, Maruts Press, 2002.
de Francia, P., Peter de Francia Portraits, James Hyman Fine Art, 2006.
de Francia, P., Holub, M., Peter de Francia, J. Milner & I. Milner (trans.), Frith Street Gallery, 1989.
de Francia, P., & Willett, J., Peter de Francia: Drawings 1993-96, Austin/Desmond Fine Art, 1996.
Hyman, J., Peter de Francia: After the Bombing, James Hyman Gallery, 2005.