Born in Baltimore in 1857, Francis Jones was a figure painter who specialized in genre scenes set in interiors, opulently decorated with elaborate furniture and accessories. His work was at once richly painted and academically precise, reflecting a style that was eventually influenced by impressionism, as in Won't Play (1880, Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield).

Jones first demonstrated an interest in art when visiting Edwin Austine Abbey in 1876. Traveling with his brother, landscape painter H. Bolton Jones, Francis Jones spent a year at the artists' colony in Pont-Aven, Brittany with such artists as Thomas Hovenden and Robert Wylie.

In the autumn of 1877, Jones left Pont- Aven for Paris, where he enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and worked in the antique class under Henri Lehmann. He remained abroad for five years, making sketching tours of Italy, Switzerland and France.

During The winter of 1879 to 1880, Jones was in London, Working on a Military panorama. Returning to France, he continued his studies under the direction of William Alolphe Bouguereau and Jules Joseph Lefebvre, and attended a special class at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

As an illustrator, Jones did views of historic houses in Washington for Scribner's (October 1893). Beginning in 1895, he worked as a mural painter. He also taught at the National Academy of Design and spent summers painting in the Berkshire Mountains of South Egremont, Mass.

Although his paintings reflected contemporary scenes, Jones interest in costumes and decorative objects was always apparent.

Memberships:
American Federation of Artists
American Watercolor Society
Century Club
National Academy of Design
National Arts C

Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton