Brian Francis (artist)

Brian Francis Fanning (Born 1933 –Died 2005)

Brian Fanning, who signed his name Brian Francis, was a 20th Century Irish artist working in oils and distemper, primarily on landscape subject matter.

Summer fields by Brian Francis

He was born in Tralee Co Kerry but spent most summers in Birr Co Tipperary where the family had connections to the Midland Tribune newspaper. In the Ireland he grew up in there was very little in the way of resources for an aspiring artist – it was the time of De Valera and an ill-fated attempt at economic autarky followed by The Emergency – as WWII was called. This was a world where few people could afford oranges and a banana was an extraordinary thing indeed. He saw his first fine art pictures in magazines sent from England by relatives, these pictures he cut out and kept carefully.

He frequently cycled through the bogs of the midlands from Birr to Limerick to visit art exhibitions and his Uncle, an art tutor in Limerick School of Art. Returning home on late summer nights he would just sleep on the heather when he got tired. This Ireland always informed his later landscapes: The Ireland of his childhood.

As a teen he designed and made sets, masks and costumes for the local Amateur Drama group in Tralee also planning and running the lighting on the performance nights. He was an active member of the Music Association in Tralee and founded the Ping-Pong Club (a game at which he excelled).

In search of a better future many young Irish people took the boat to England, and he was no exception. The cheapest way to get there was the packet ship, The Princess Maud, and this was the boat they took. It was famous for being able to spin over the waves in all dimensions at once ensuring a truly awful journey for cattle and people alike.

He sent pictures by post to Central College of Art in London, and was accepted as a student there with no interview, taken on the strength of his drawings alone. He had exceptional talent as a draughtsman. While there he studied Fine Art painting and printmaking.

When he left for London, Rose, his wife to be, followed him to London where they eloped and got married in Southwark church. There wedding took place ahead of that of a florist's daughter so the church was sumptuously decorated with flowers – even though they themselves hadn’t a bean.

For a time it all worked, studying part-time and working, but as happens to so many aspiring artists, the need to earn a living for his new family became more demanding. He was forced to give up his studies and to continue as best he could under his own steam. Eventually the family returned to Ireland arriving in 1973 just in time for another economic crisis.

He continued to paint however, building up a significant body of work. He exhibited rarely but had private followers in Ireland and the UK. During this time he had paintings accepted to the prestigious RHA Summer Exhibitions on two occasions. Unfortunately he passed away just as he neared the completion of a set of works intended for a solo exhibition.

Practice

He researched his paintings sitting out in fields and graveyards with his sketchbook and watercolours, then worked up and finished these on a big painter’s easel at home afterwards.

He worked primarily in Oils and Distemper (which was unusual for the times), but allowed him to achieve the palette of Discords that he needed. He also worked mostly on board not canvas.

He was influenced by the works of Morandi and theories of colour psychology. He was also interested in popular science and natural history and had an extensive library of these as well as art topics.

Provenance

• Included in the 'Off the Wall' Exhibition (Morgan O'Driscoll) 2014 (Posthumously)
• Exhibited in the People's Art Exhibition, St Stephens Green, Dublin 2004
• Exhibited Royal Hibernian Academy in the 163rd Summer Exhibition 1993.
• Exhibited Royal Hibernian Academy in the 158th Summer Exhibition 1988
• Held in the public collection of the Department of Economics of University College Cork.
• Work held in private collections in Ireland and the UK

He was contemporary to William Crozier, Tony O'Malley, Charles Brady, 'Markey Robinson', Patrick Scott and Sean Scully.