Francis Alexander

Francis Alexander
Self-portrait, c. 1830
Born	(1800-02-03)February 3, 1800 Killingly, Connecticut, United States
Died	March 27, 1880(1880-03-27) (aged 80) Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Nationality	American
Education	Alexander Robertson
Known for	Portrait painter
Spouse	Lucia Grey

Francis Alexander (February 3, 1800 – March 27, 1880)^[1] was an American portrait-painter.

Biography

Alexander was born in Windham county Connecticut in February 1800. Brought up on a farm, he taught himself the use of colors, and in 1820 went to New York City and studied painting with Alexander Robertson.^[2]

He spent the winters of 1831 and 1832 in Rome. Afterwards, he resided for nearly a decade in Boston, Massachusetts, where he had considerable vogue, and where he painted a portrait of Charles Dickens (1842).^[2]

In 1840 he was elected to the National Academy of Design as an honorary member. Francis Alexander died in 1881 in Florence.^[2]

Family

Alexander married Lucia Grey Swett in 1836. Their daughter Francesca Alexander was a popular illustrator, author, and translator.^[3]

Works

One of Alexander's best portraits is that of Mrs. Fletcher Webster, formerly in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.^[2] This romantic portrait, in which the sitter appears swathed in ermine, was deaccessioned from the Museum early in the 20th century and returned to descendants in the Sargent family.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

References

• James, Edward T.; James, Janet Wilson; Boyer, Paul S.; Radcliffe College (1971). Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Vol. 1. Harvard University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-674-62734-5.
• "Alexander, Francis". National Gallery of Art. 2020.

Attribution:

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alexander, Francis". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 564.

External links

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