Francis Chapin (1899-1965, American) worked primarily in watercolors and oil and produced vibrant and colorful landscapes, seascapes and portraits. Evidently, he was fond of cats, as he also portrayed them sometimes in bright colors and sometimes in just etchings. Born in Bristolville, Ohio, he attended and graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in 1921. In 1922, he enrolled in the Art Institute of Chicago where he remained for the rest of his life even though he travelled widely. He became known as the “Dean of Chicago Painters.”
From 1929-1947 Chapin was an art instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago. Grant Wood approached Chapin to teach a course in lithography at the Stone City Art Colony.
Chapin exhibited his works at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC. His works can be found in the Brooklyn Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum, NYC among many others.

Yellow Cat

Two Cats

Two Cats, detail

Mother Cat, 1954

Figaro, 1945

Cat, n.d.

Mother Cat and Two Kittens
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