Francis Golden (1916-2008)
Snipe Hunting at Tabusintac, 1985
signed and dated “Francis Golden © ’85” lower left
watercolor, 17 by 24 in.Artist Francis “Frank” Golden graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Art in Boston in 1939 and shortly thereafter was hired to paint the background for Salvador Dali’s work “The Dream of Venus for the World’s Fair in New York. He worked steadily for many years, creating commissions for magazines such as “Collier’s,” “The Saturday Evening Post,” “Gray’s Sporting Journal,” and many others. Golden’s exuberant, colorful paintings appeared on the cover of “Sports Illustrated,” and he was voted one of the magazine’s top ten artists of all time. This atmospheric painting depicts New Brunswick, Canada.
Golden was an illustrator mostly for the magazines. Later on he some easel work. He was in SE MA somewhere. I can’t remember if I talked to him but I think I emailed him once. He did decent surf casting images. A friend has a nice one.
This painting is unusual for its subject and location. It was likely for a mag article but I can’t find it. He did good work for Sports Illustrated back when they carried outdoor stories.
Steve and I have a thing for snipe. I haven’t hunted them in years but they were a formative experience in my teens.