Peter De Francia was born to an Italian father and an English mother in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Alpes-Maritimes, France on 25 January 1921. De Francia immigrated to England in 1940, as a Displaced Person, and after the Second World War he enrolled in the Slade School of Art (1945–8) in London. He soon established himself as a painter, noted art teacher, and dedicated socialist.
Artist, writer and teacher, Peter De Francia was born in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Alpes-Maritimes, France on 25 January 1921. Brought up in Paris and primarily cared for by staff (Hyman, 2012), de Francia first attended the Lycée Pascale and then the Parisian American High School. His father, Laurent Fernand, a corporate lawyer, came from an affluent Genoese family, while his mother, Alice Groom, was English. De Francia’s national identity varies according to sources, being identified as British, British-Italian, or half-French, as well as categorised as a Displaced Person in the UK (Hyman, 2019; McNay, 2019; Art UK). Following his father’s death in the late 1930s, de Francia studied at Brussels’ arts academy (1938–40).
The 1940 Nazi invasion of France prompted his escape by bicycle to the coast, from where he immigrated to England. De Francia subsequently joined the British army, moving from anti-tank artillery to photographic interpretation, given his French heritage and presumed knowledge of Normandy. Post-D-Day, he served in Belgium. After the war he enrolled in the Slade School of Art (1945–8) in London. After graduation, he travelled extensively, spending time in Italy, the USA, and Canada. Latterly, he was employed by Canadian Government Exhibition Commission in Ottawa (1949–50) and in the Architects’ Department of the American Museum in New York City (1950–51). Upon his return to the UK, de Francia worked for the BBC (1951–3), overseeing art programmes.
A 1947 visit to the studio of painter, Renato Guttuso, an Italian communist, profoundly influenced de Francia, as did the works of artists with communist sympathies, such as Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Max Beckmann, and George Grosz; he met the latter two in New York in 1950. Léger was particularly important for de Francia artistically, from whom he adopted Cubist-like voluminous and full-bodied figures, alongside the Futurist-inspired compositional dynamism. Although de Francia’s style was rooted in the tradition of Western European historical avant-gardes, he also drew inspiration from 19th century French socialist painters, such as Gustave Courbet and Honoré Daumier. De Francia’s work also nods to the British caricature tradition, blending the dynamic, idiosyncratic social satire of William Hogarth and Thomas Rowlandson. Indeed, a significant part of de Francia’s oeuvre is dedicated to social commentary, a reflection of his lifelong political commitment to socialism. His works, characterised by a vibrant palette and energetic compositions, frequently portray intense and occasionally violent scenes of combat and struggle. Another recurrent motif is the pastoral landscape that meld together scenes of industry and leisure. Although the political and the pastoral form two distinct strands within his work, both converge in a tender yet unsentimental exploration of the human experience. One of his most famous pieces, The Bombing of Sakiet, a large-scale painting, measuring approximately 6ft x 12ft, is emblematic of his body of work. In 1958, 68 Tunisians died in a raid on Sakiet Sidi Yousef, a result of French actions in Algeria, sparking global outrage. De Francia, impacted by the tragedy, painted this huge canvas as a homage to the victims, using disjointed imagery, a chaotic composition, and stark colour contrasts to depict the devastation.
De Francia held several teaching positions throughout his career. His earliest post was at Morley College for Working Men and Women in London SE1, where he taught various adult education painting and history art courses from 1952 to 1963. He later served as a tutor at the Department of Art History and Complementary Studies at both St Martin’s School of Art (1953–68), and the Royal College of Art (RCA, 1963–69). In 1969, he became Principal of the Department of Fine Art at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London, a role he held until 1972. De Francia then returned to the RCA as a Professor of Painting, where he worked for 14 years, until 1986. After his earliest solo shows in Milan, Italy, de Francia regularly exhibited in the UK, with several notable solo shows throughout his career, including at the Camden Arts Centre, London (1977 and 1987); Pallant House, Chichester (2007-8); and at the Fine Art Society Art Society, in London and Edinburgh (2022), the latter two coinciding with a gallery monograph. Nevertheless, he never achieved mainstream recognition as a painter. In 1977, critic and historian Richard Cork observed: 'Despite the prominence Peter de Francia commands as professor of painting at the Royal College of Art, his work is a more or less unknown quantity to everyone outside close friends and colleagues' (cited in Morley College Art Collection text). His scholarly contributions include two books on Fernand Léger, Leger: The Great Parade (Painters on Painting)(1969) and Fernand Léger (1983)
De Francia’s first two marriages, in 1943 and 1980, ended in divorce. He latterly married Alix MacSweeney in 2004, who was widowed on his death. De Francia died of pneumonia in London, England on 19 January 2012, aged 90, and is buried in Highgate Cemetery. His artwork is held in several UK public collections, including the Arts Council Collection; Contemporary Art Society; British Museum, Imperial War Museum, London; National Galleries Scotland, Edinburgh; and Tate. The British Library also holds an audio recording of an interview with de Francia.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Peter de Francia]
Publications related to [Peter de Francia] in the Ben Uri Library