Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10

Francis Chapin
An Introspective, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Portrait "Head of a Young Girl"

Circa 1950

$850
£640.45
€748.61
CA$1,203.68
A$1,225.82
CHF 703.67
MX$14,791.77
NOK 8,155.23
SEK 8,267.25
DKK 5,596.94

About the Item

An Introspective, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Portrait "Head of a Young Girl" by Noted Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Artwork size: 15 x 12 1/2 inches (Framed size: 19 1/2 x 17 inches). Titled and estate stamped on reverse. Provenance: Estate of the artist. Exhibited: Kraushaar Galleries, New York, NY; Fairweather Hardin Gallery, Chicago, IL (Labels on reverse). 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 and 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). Chapin’s contemporaries among Chicago’s artists included such luminaries as Ivan Le Lorraine Albright, Edgar Miller, William S. Schwartz and Aaron Bohrod among others. 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.
  • Creator:
    Francis Chapin (1899-1965, American)
  • Creation Year:
    Circa 1950
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Width: 17 in (43.18 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Very good / fine original estate condition. See photos.
  • Gallery Location:
    Chicago, IL
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: #192311stDibs: LU2591216370472

More From This Seller

View All
A Cheerful 1950s Modern Portrait of a Young Woman by Francis Chapin

A Cheerful 1950s Modern Portrait of a Young Woman by Francis Chapin

By Francis Chapin

Located in Chicago, IL

A Cheerful, 1950s Modern Portrait of a Young Woman with Blonde Hair by Notable Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Artwork size: 7 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches, oil on Masonite (...

Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

A Charming 1950s Modern Portrait of a Young Woman by Francis Chapin

A Charming 1950s Modern Portrait of a Young Woman by Francis Chapin

By Francis Chapin

Located in Chicago, IL

A Charming, 1950s Modern Portrait of a Young Woman in a Red Sweater by Famed Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Artwork size: 8 x 6 inches, oil on Masonite (Framed siz...

Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

A Cheerful 1950s Mid-Century Modern, Portrait of a Young Woman Seated at a Table

A Cheerful 1950s Mid-Century Modern, Portrait of a Young Woman Seated at a Table

By Francis Chapin

Located in Chicago, IL

A cheerful1950s Mid-Century Modern portrait of a young woman seated at a table by famed Chicago artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Great color palette and expressive, contempla...

Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A Fabulous 1950s Mid-Century Modern Portrait of a Seated Woman, "Southern Belle"

A Fabulous 1950s Mid-Century Modern Portrait of a Seated Woman, "Southern Belle"

By Francis Chapin

Located in Chicago, IL

A Fabulous 1950s Mid-Century Modern Portrait of a Seated Woman, "Southern Belle" by Noted Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A colorful Southern painting depicting a ...

Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

You May Also Like

French Female Portrait Oil Painting, La Jeune Fille, Mid Century Art

French Female Portrait Oil Painting, La Jeune Fille, Mid Century Art

By Raymond Debieve

Located in Atlanta, GA

La Jeune Fille by Raymond Debiève is a captivating French figurative oil painting that highlights the expressive potential of simplified form and bold line. Painted on board, this mi...

Category

Mid-20th Century Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil, Cardboard

School of Paris Modernist Female Portrait, Oil on Canvas, circa 1960

School of Paris Modernist Female Portrait, Oil on Canvas, circa 1960

By Menachem Gueffen

Located in NANTES, FR

This oil on canvas by Menachem Gueffen, painted circa 1960, reflects the influence of the School of Paris and Post-War European Modernism. The composition presents a stylized female...

Category

Mid-20th Century Post-War Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

An Ideal Head of a Woman

An Ideal Head of a Woman

By Alfred Henry Maurer

Located in New York, NY

In the tradition of Modigliani, Maurer's depictions of women are expressive and lively. America had very few modernists who painted in this manner but Maurer is famous for exactly t...

Category

1920s American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Gesso, Oil, Board