THE PAINTING SCHOOL OF MONTMIRAL

 

Francis, though primarily a painter, has done much else besides. He has an honours degree in Modern History from the University of Oxford, a Diploma in Art and Design from the Bath Academy of Art and an Art Teacher's Diploma from the University of Bristol School of Education. An important influence on his work has been the Polish painter Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, under whom he studied and who provided a living link with the European colourist tradition (Seurat, Cézanne, Matisse and Bonnard). Francis has taught figure-drawing and painting in various Institutes of Further Education and, as a Visiting Lecturer, has been employed at all levels in Art Schools, especially for his knowledge of colour. He has held two three-year fellowships at the University of Stirling: first as the Cottrell Memorial Fellow, researching a new approach to the use of colour in paintings; and then, as a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology, studying drawing skills. Subsequently, he initiated the University of Stirling Vision Group, an interdisciplinary body working on computer-based image interpretation. He has given talks concerning various aspects of drawing skills and colour perception both at international conferences and to Psychology Departments in Britain (including Edinburgh, Cambridge and Oxford). His ideas on these subjects have been published in various scholarly journals and books. Francis has exhibited paintings in England, Scotland and on the Mainland of Europe, and has designed a number of multi-media events. In 1988 he founded the Painting School of Montmiral. Since then, apart from painting and teaching, he has contributed articles to The Artist, The Artist's and Illustrator's Magazine, and Modern Painters, as well as publishing an essay on Toulouse-Lautrec in La Revue du Tarn. He also founded a software development company which bases its computer programmes on ideas coming from the University of Stirling Vision Group. He is now working on a comprehensive book covering most aspects of painting and drawing, with special reference to skill-aquisition, analytic looking, personal expression and creativity.

Scottish Arts Council

1974, Lucy Milton Gallery, London (three person show).
1977, Royal College of Art, London (in association with a Colour Group of Great Britain Symposium) (two person show).
1977, MacRobert Gallery, Stirling (one person show).
1978, Arts Council of Scotland Gallery, Charlotte Square (recent acquisitions)
1978, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (in association with a Colour Group of Scotland Symposium) (one person show).
1978, Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh (one person show).
1979, Talbot Rice Arts Centre, Edinburgh (three person show).
1983, Egstrom Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden (four person show entitled "Four British Concrete Artists"). This exhibition was also shown at:
-1983, Norskoping Museum, Norskoping, Sweden.
-1984, Kunsthalle, Malmo, Sweden
1991, Centre Culturel d'Albigeois, Albi.
1996, Tour de Rondes, Lavaur
1999, Musée Jean Jaures, Castres (selected Tarn region artists)
1999, Chateau de la Linardier, Senouillac, Tarn (four person show)
2005, Chateau de la Linardier,  Senouillac, Tarn (one person show)
In addition Annely Juda Fine Art, London, has taken paintings to various art fairs in Europe, for example, at Bologna and Basle.

"The Brick Event", on campus at the University of Stirling and in the MacRobert Art Gallery, University of Stirling. 1976. This used sound analogies and a variety of visuals to introduce contemporary art ideas to a wider public.
"The 'L' shaped word sandwich", the MacRobert Art Gallery, University of Stirling. 1976. A melange of words, sound, dance and performance used as a means of extending people’s ideas relating to the possibilities of poetic expression.
"Phenomenon": a multi media exhibition sponsored by Stirling District Council illustrating the work of the University of Stirling Vision Group. The Tollbooth, Stirling. 1987. On display were computers learning to “see” light, colours and shapes, as well as a complex interactive installation representing brain function in an artistic way, using two way mirrors, sound sensitive lights and especially composed “neuron music”.

Law, R., 1980, The horse in West African history. O.U.P. (for the international African Institute).

TEACHING POSTS:

Isleworth Polytechnic: part-time Lecturer in figure-drawing and Painting: 1964-1967.
Chippenham College of Further Education: part-time Lecturer in figure-drawing, 1972-1974.

RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS:

The University of Stirling: Tom Cottrell Memorial Fellowship (painting); 1975-1978
The University of Stirling: S.S.R.C. Senior Research Fellowship (graphic skills): 1979-1982.

OCCASIONAL TEACHING

(1) Art Schools:

1972-1999. Over the years, as a Visiting Lecturer, I have intermittently given talks, made studio visits and organised colour courses at various Art Schools & Art Departments. Such visited include: The Royal Academy Schools; Reading University (Post-Graduate level); Newcastle Polytechnic; Wimbledon School of Art (Foundation, Degree and Post Graduate levels)) Goldsmith's College; Edinburgh College of Art; Kingston Polytechnic; Gray's School of Art; Bath Academy of Art; Byam Shaw School of Arts and Crafts.

 (2) Other:

While at the University of Stirling, I contributed to the teaching in the Psychology Department on many occasions, giving lectures on colour and drawing skills, as well as participating in student research projects. I also founded a figure-drawing group for University members, which I supervised for most of the time I was at Stirling.

OTHER LONG TERM POST:

Director of the Painting School of Montmiral, Castelnau de Montmiral, Tarn, France 1988-2008

Phillips, W.A., Hobbs, S.B. and Pratt, F.R., 1978, “Intellectual Realism in Children’s' drawings of Cubes”. Cognition, Vol. 6, pages 15-33.
Pratt, Francis, 1979, “The contribution of colour to three dimensional ambiguities in paintings and drawings.” Perception, Vol. 8, pages 157-173.
Pratt, Francis and MacDonald, Ranald R, 1981, “Effects of distance on heterochromatic matching.” Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 50, pages 1127-1138.
MacDonald, Ranald R., Pratt, Francis and Beattie, Martin E., 1982, “Viewing Distance and visual angle effects on metameric matches.” Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 54, pages 119-126.
Pratt, F.R., 1983, “Intellectual Realism in children’s' and adults' copies of cubes and straight lines.” In, "Acquisition of Symbolic Skills." Eds: Rogers, D.R. and Sloboda, J.A., Plenum Press.
Pratt, Francis, 1984, “A theoretical framework for thinking about depiction.” In, "Cognitive Processes in the Perception of Art". Eds: Crozier, W.R. and Chapman, A.J., North-Holland Press.
Pratt, Francis, 1985, “A perspective on traditional artistic practices.” In, "Visual Order. Studies in the Development of Representational Skills". Eds: Freeman, N.H. and Cox, M. Cambridge University Press.
Pratt, Francis, 1984, “Systems and the work of Michael Kidner.” In: "Michael Kidner: Paintings, Drawings and Sculptures": catalogue to the exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, London. Arts Council of Great Britain
Pratt, Francis, 1985, “Systems and the Work of Michael Kidner.” In: "Michael Kidner": catalogue to the exhibition shown at: Museum Sztuki, Lodz; Galleria Krystofory, Krakow; and, Museum Norodow, Wroclaw.
Pratt, Francis, 1985, “Drawing Conclusions.” A review of/ Peter van Somers, 1984, "Drawing and Cognition", Cambridge University Press. In: New Scientist. Vol. 106 (1452) pp. 40-41.
Francis Pratt, 1990, "Why only eight trees?” The Artist, Vol. 105 No 2, pages 24-28.
Francis Pratt, 1990, "I Simply draw what I see” (part one)." The Artist, Vol. 105 No 8, pages 29-32.
Francis Pratt, 1990, "I simply draw what I see"  (Part two). The Artist, Vol. 105 No 9, pages 28-31.
Francis Pratt, 1991, "What is Art?"  The Artist, Vol. 106 No 5, pages 32-38.
Francis Pratt, 1991, "What is round, red, and squishy?" A letter in, The Independent, May 27th.
Francis Pratt, 1992,"Enfin, je ne sais plus dessiner" Toulouse-Lautrec, Le Premier Peintre Moderne. La Revue du Tarn, Troisième Série, No 145, pages 37-55.
Francis Pratt, 1994, “To know or not to know how” A letter in, Modern Painters, Vol. 7 No1.
Francis Pratt, 1996, “Accuracy in drawing” (1) The Artist’s and Illustrator’s Magazine Feb 1996
Francis Pratt, 1996, “Accuracy in drawing” (2) The Artist's and Illustrator's Magazine, March 1996
Francis Pratt, 1996, "Do Artists need brains?"  The Artist, Vol. 111 No 8, page 7.
Francis Pratt, 1999, “Wheels within wheels”. The Artist’s and Illustrator’s Magazine June 1999
Francis Pratt, 1999, “The blue virus”.  The Artist, Vol. 114 No 10, page 7.
Francis Pratt, 2007, “Michael Kidner the man” and “Michael Kidner -The big bang, chaos and the butterfly”, in Michael Kidner, Flowers, London (a monograph published on the occasion of “No goals in a quicksand” a retrospective exhibition to celebrate the artist's 90th birthday at Flowers East Gallery, London).

Intellectual realism in children’s and adults' copies of cubes and straight lines. NATO Conference on “Symbolic Skills”. Keele, 1982.
The influence of children’s art on adult artists'. Conference on “Psychology in the Arts”. Cardiff, 1983.

Royal College of Art. Colour Group of Great Britain symposium on "Colour in Art, Design, Science and Industry". 1977
University of Strathclyde. Colour Group of Scotland symposium on "Colour in Art and Design". 1978.
M.R.C. Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge, 1980.
University of Oxford, Department of Psychology, 1980.
University of Edinburgh, Department of Psychology, 1982.
University of Stirling, Department of Psychology, on many topics – drawing skills, motor skills, colour, and eye/brain function - and on many occasions between 1976 and 1986.