#francis cunningham

Francis Cunningham, David Potoff's Tools (2004) oil on linen 37x51 ($65,000)

Raised in Massachusetts and a graduate of Harvard, Francis Cunningham spent time in the Marines before settling in New York and a life of art.  Realism is key to his work as is an overall narrative even in the inanimate: "Objects, and the nude, have a story to tell.  Their stories are more basic than those of descriptive reporting . . .  Their stories are pre-mythic, for the objects speak of themselves, free from the associations of other people, other things.  Their meaning is determined by you, for you are the storyteller." 

Over a lengthy career of both teaching art and making his own, Cunningham also co-founded The New York Academy of Art with Barney Hodes, a sculptor, in 1983.   Having shown extensively both in solo and group shows, in the United States and abroad, he is currently represented by the Laurel Tracey Gallery.