Francis Chapin

Francis Warren Chapin mainly painted watercolors and oil paintings of landscapes and portraits but was also a lithographer and graphic artist. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, and focused on urban and rural landscapes but also made portraits and nude images. In Chicago, he also worked as an art teacher, and had a great influence on the history of art development. He was called the “Dean of Chicago Painters.” He was not related to artist James Chapin, who took part in the same event in 1932.

Francis Chapin produced a number of works with polo motifs, mostly lithographs. It is unclear which of these is the submitted Polo - Argentines vs. Old Aiken, as no subtitles are known for most of the works. Established in the 1920s, the “Old Aiken” were the very successful junior team (!) of the Aiken Polo Club in Aiken, South Carolina. His only known lithograph with the title Tennis is said to be dated from the 1940s. However, this dating is obviously not definitive.