FRANCESCA – A New Direction after 40 Years
To celebrate her work and her decision to leave the exciting world of art enthusiasts, Francesca is holding her 40th Anniversary Show from September 20-December 20. Gallery receptions will be held Saturday, October 7 and Saturday, November 4, 2-5 p.m. This will be followed by Intriguing Inventory, November 11-December 20, where she will offer paintings and prints in storage for sale at discount rates. That reception will be Saturday, December 2, 2–5 p.m.
For 40 years, Francesca has designed and produced art shows which are well-known in the region. One of the most popular is her Almost Miniatures show, where visitors can see many small prints and paintings and a few actual miniatures. She had four “one-man shows” of landscapes and marine paintings by the very popular artist, Māris Platais. There is her Annual Portrait Show, Best in Watercolor, Encaustic Art in the Twenty-first Century, the Craft Show, the Memorial Quilts for Mass Shooting Victims, the Trompe L’Oeil Show, and the list goes on. A lean estimate, she says, is approximately 270 shows.
She also is renowned for her portrait business. Clients come to her to select THE portrait artist to do their portrait, or the College President’s portrait, or the CEO’s portrait. She has held 30 Annual Portrait Shows, where she chose different portraits for each artist (35 usually), then contacted the owners of those portraits to obtain permission to borrow their portrait as a “best example” of their artist’s work. She had only one decline in 30 years! Then, she would get in her car for 7-10 days and pick up portraits from homes, offices, hospitals, and colleges throughout New England. At the end of each show, she would return all the portraits. After 30 shows, she figured people knew she deals in portraits.
Whether the show is about Birds or Portraits, Francesca sketches the invitations in pencil, designs the show, hangs the show, spackles and paints the walls around the new design, and adjusts the lighting. You can enjoy the full bar, the Via Lago hors d’oeuvres, the conversation, and the wonderful art at the opening reception.
For two years, Francesca attended the Corcoran School of Art, knowing she would not be an artist but wanted to know how to handle paint. Initially, she worked in conservation at the Smithsonian, where she was thrilled to work on the back of a Degas painting. Moving to Boston, she was an apprentice to Morton Bradley, who was considered the premier American art restorer in the 1940s and 1950s. “A friend of mine bought Shore Gallery. When he asked ‘Francesca, would you please be my Assistant Director?’ I thought, work in Mr. Bradley’s basement for no money, learn conservation, or have a nice salary and work on Newbury St. Hmm. My career changed at that moment.”
From there, she became the Assistant Director for the Copley Society of Boston.
Several years later, a famous Boston gallery closed. Knowing that many artists were suddenly without a gallery, Francesca went to Loring Coleman, a highly popular watercolor realist specializing in farms and New England barns. She asked him if he would show with her. He replied, “Darling, in a heartbeat.” By 1983, she had her own gallery, specializing in contemporary realism and portraits, at 132 Newbury Street, which later moved to 8 Newbury Street. From there to Lexington, and the rest is history.