Francis Lee Jaques

Who was Francis Lee Jaques?

Francis Lee Jaques was an American wildlife painter.

Francis Lee Jaques hunted and trapped with his father and connected with editors and writers from major hunting magazines. While still a teenager, Lee paid ten dollars to buy a taxidermy shop in Aitkin, Minnesota. He toughed out a few winters scarcely earning enough money to survive and bartering paintings to pay for services. He alternated railroad work in northern Minnesota and taxidermy in Aitkin to make ends meet.

In 1918 Jaques was drafted into the army. During his six month stay in St. Emilione, France he recorded his surroundings in several small pencil drawings and watercolor paintings. He came home with a rank of Private First Class and returned to Duluth, Minnesota. There he met Clarence C. Rosenkranz, an artist of the impressionist style, who helped him mix color and express his feelings through art.

In 1924, Jaques sent some of his paintings to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. His talent was recognized and he was invited to join the museum's team as a background painter. The team traveled around the world gathering exhibit specimens. Jaques recorded his experiences throughout.

Jaques was almost 40 years old when he met Florence Page, a friend of his landlord. She was a budding writer just out of a prestigious school in the East, but was originally from Decatur, Illinois. Jaques and Florence found common ground in nature and developed a friendship. They were married in 1927.