Nationality
American
Preview
Date of Work
2022
Medium
Oil on canvas
Signature
Lower right
Height
12"
Width
16"
Collection/Provenance
Division of Research & Economic Development Collection
Status
Displayed
Location
Division of Research & Economic Development
Artist Bio
Sharon France paints rural Midwestern landscapes drawn from memory and imagination, seeking to capture the peaceful, quiet isolation of the countryside. Her work centers on a recurring fascination with old farmsteads, particularly the farmhouses and barns of the region, an interest rooted in childhood visits to her grandparents' remote Midwestern farm. Stylistically, France works primarily in Realism while incorporating elements of Tonalism and Minimalism, building her acrylic paintings on stretched canvas through layered applications using both wet and dry brush techniques. Her artistic influences include the Tonalists, the Hudson River School, and Minimalist and Realist traditions, and her work has been noted for its quiet simplicity and intriguing sense of peace.
France holds a Bachelor of Fine Art with an emphasis in Illustration from Northern Illinois University. Her paintings have been featured in numerous juried and group exhibitions, including the Freeport Art Museum's Regional Juried Exhibition, the Bedford Gallery's Peaceable Kingdom: Animals, Real and Imagined in Walnut Creek, California, the 26th International Exhibition on Animals in Art in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and shows at the Springfield Art Association and New Visions Gallery in Marshfield, Wisconsin. In 2015, two of her paintings were featured in This Old House magazine's Cloudland Cottage Show House on Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and were highlighted in the publication's November–December 2015 issue.