Roman Frances

Young Woman by the River oil on canvas painting

c.2000

José Miguel Román Francés was born on January 2, 1950 in Alcoy, Alicante (Spain). At the age of fourteen he began to paint in the workshop of Gaspar Francés Rico. Rico became more of a friend than a teacher, and his work influenced Francés’ artistic formation. Román Francés achieves an overall effect of harmony, peace, and great beauty with his superb draftsmanship. Each piece is filled with the feeling of light that he manages to reflect in everything he paints. His paintings are employed lavishly, with dense buildups in the floral groupings and landscapes surrounding the female figures and children, which are the core and focus from which all else radiates. Francés' work reflects his love for nature and his Spanish heritage, frequently depicting the female figure with traditional silk shawls that radiate with the colors and floral patterns of his native country. His impressionistic brushstroke never lets him get too closely bound up in his encounters with the female figure; yet, he depicts her in minute details when appropriate. The colors he uses are perfectly balanced and controlled within their light-giving power. In 1965 he exhibited his first painting in the Salon de Otoño in Alcoy. The following year he moved to Madrid, where he remained for five years experiencing the culture of this region. In 1971 he returned to Alcoy, where he has lived ever since. In 1976 he presented his first individual exhibition in Catalonia, beginning an extensive series of exhibitions. His work can be found in many important public and private collections in over 30 countries, including the United States, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Great Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Mexico and Canada. He has had more than 60 personal exhibitions and had participated in many collective ones. His work has been featured in several major cities of his native Spain, as well as in many prestigious galleries outside of Spain - Lisbon, Brussels, Mexico City, Miami, New York, and Santa Fe, just to name a few. Several books have been published about the life and work of the artist. In one of them, titled “Román Francés – Master of Pictorial Light”, Josep Cadena, journalist, chief-editor and art critic, analyzed the artist’s work: “Painting the way Román Francés paints is a quest for connecting with something of interest – a landscape, a female figure, a flower arrangement – and achieving a kind of transcendence of what is sought for expression in accordance with its natural way of being.” Román Francés’ paintings are also featured in other publications; his widespread recognition earned him the honor to commission paint several large historical illustrations in a book about Ethiopia which was published in several countries.