Francis C. Jones

Without the cheerful presence of Francis Coates Jones, the artist groups that used to gather in the Club-rooms of an afternoon or a Saturday evening could not have been quite what they were. He was always the centre of the group; under the leadership of his merry personality and lively play of fancy, the talk would shift from artistic reminiscence to appraisal of new paintings and thence back again to old days in the Century or in the Academy of Design. Jones knew every one in both these organizations; he never had a word except of kindness and appreciation for any of them, and their liking for him was unmistakable. Himself a painter who, though a technical master of his craft, did not finish many canvases and sold few, he was without a spark of envy for fellow-craftsmen of larger attainment. He was genuinely interested both in their personality and their work.

No picture was so charming in the affiliations of our fellow-members as the relations of Francis with his brother and fellow-artist Hugh Bolton [Jones]. Francis was a quick and ready talker, Bolton a sympathetic and usually silent listener. Contrasting with his brother, Bolton Jones was an exceedingly productive artist. By instinct and preference he painted landscapes; Francis painted figures. But the two worked together for many years in a common studio and with absolute harmony of purpose; it was as if the divergent qualities of the one supplemented those of the other. Their studio was itself a gem of art to which the work of each lent some particular beauty. In his services to the Academy of Design Frank Jones won undisputed prestige, most unusual in his craft, for prudent and sagacious investment of the institution’s endowment funds. But it is the cheerful personality, the twinkling eye and the easy conversation that the Century will remember.

Alexander Dana Noyes
1933 Century Association Yearbook