Francis Day

Who was Francis Day?

James Francis Day, generally known as Francis Day, was an American artist, whose paintings may be found in many private and public collections, largely in the United States.

He was born in LeRoy, New York and studied at New York's Art Students League and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Ernest Herbert and Luc-Oliver Merson.. He specialized in painting family scenes.

He was a member of the Salmagundi Club, the Society of American Artists, and an associate of the National Academy of Design. He married Mary Evelyn Smith in 1887 then moved to New York City. They moved to Nutley, New Jersey in 1890 and returned to New York by 1905. About 1912 they moved to Massachusetts.

A number of his paintings have been offered for sale by auction in recent years, including Light of Love, Woman with a Harp, and The Critic, the last named being a well-known painting, whose 'critic' is in fact a small girl listening to her mother playing the piano.