painter, sculptor, jeweller, metalworker and art teacher, was born in Wodonga, Victoria, on 24 September 1860. In her twenties and early thirties, she was enrolled at the National Gallery School (1883-85, 1887-88 and 1891-93). Between 1901 and 1904 she exhibited oils, pastel portraits and sculpture with the Yarra Sculptors’ Society and during the same period conducted drawing and painting classes at her studio in Stalbridge Chambers, Chancery Lane, Melbourne. Later, she visited England, arriving in 1907.
By 1914 she had a studio in London at Edith Road, West Kensington. She is said to have studied in Paris, Holland and at the Brangwyn School of Painting. At some point she became highly skilled in metalwork, enamelwork and jewellery and, although she always continued to paint—predominantly landscapes and portraits—received greatest recognition for her craftwork. In 1914 she won a silver medal in a national competition in jewellery design held under the auspices of the Board of Education. That year she exhibited an enamel panel at the Royal Academy.
Francis revisited Melbourne in 1920 but soon returned to England. She regularly exhibited enamel work, silver and jewellery in the Liverpool Autumn Exhibition between 1927 and 1935 and is said to have also exhibited at the Royal Colonial Institute and at the Paris Salon where it is claimed she won first prize for a portrait in painted enamel. Documented and surviving examples of her craftwork are, in the main, stylistically typical of the English Arts and Crafts movement.
Francis returned to Australia in 1942. She spent her last years in Melbourne, where she died on 24 January 1953, aged 92. While an extensive collection of her work was sold in Melbourne shortly after her death, very little is now known. The only work located in a public collection is the silver and enamel triptych (NGV) discussed herein.
- Writers:
- O'Callaghan, Judith
- Date written:
- 1995
- Last updated:
- 2011
