Francis Coates Jones

FRANCIS COATES JONES (Baltimore, Maryland, 1857 - New York, 1932).
"Muses in Pompeian Garden".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 69.5 x 49.5 cm.
In this work, two musicians, zither and tambourine in hand, converse on a stone bench in a green environment. The city of Pompeii spreads out behind them. Thus using a theme inspired by his travels through the Old Continent, which were a lasting inspiration for his artistic production, where the female figures dressed in old-fashioned clothes, inscribed in idyllic landscapes as in this particular case, stood out. Francis Coates Jones belonged to a wealthy Baltimore family, which allowed him to travel around Europe, first to France and then to Italy, where he perfected his polished style and luminous touch. Back in his homeland, he received numerous official commissions. Here he offers us a painting of great delicacy, as evidenced by the small details, such as the still life with oranges and grapes on the bench.

Francis Coates Jones was an American painter who studied in Europe with painters such as Bouguereau. He is known for his paintings of quiet women in richly decorated interiors or flower-filled gardens. His older brother was the landscape painter Hugh Bolton Jones (1848-1927). In 1876, the Jones brothers visited Europe, where Francis became interested in painting. In London, the two brothers stayed with Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911). Jones then spent almost a year in Pont-Aven, Brittany, where there was a colony of American artists. There he befriended Thomas Hovenden (1840-1895). In the fall of 1877, Jones moved to Paris. He taught himself drawing and was admitted to Henri Lehmann's antiques class at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1878 the two brothers traveled to Spain and Morocco. Jones returned to Paris and enrolled at the Académie Julian, where he studied with William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) and Jules Joseph Lefebvre (1836-1911). He made sketching trips to Italy, Switzerland and France. Jones continued to study in France until 1881, apart from a trip to Baltimore in the summer of 1879 and a period in the winter of 1879-80 when he painted a military panorama in London. He returned to New York in 1881 and shared a studio with his brother in the Sherwood Studio Building. In 1882 he was elected a member of the Society of American Artists. He then returned to Paris.
Finally, Jones returned to the United States and settled in New York in 1884. He taught portraiture at the Art Students League of New York. He also obtained illustration commissions from Scribner's Monthly and The Century Magazine. By the 1890s, Jones enjoyed a solid reputation and began to play a prominent role in the New York art world. Jones taught at the National Academy of Design for over thirty years. For twenty-two years he was treasurer of the National Academy of Design. From 1917 to 1930, Jones was a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.