Francis Hyman Criss (1901 - 1973) was an American painter. Criss's style is associated with the American Precisionists like Charles Demuth and his friend Charles Sheeler.
The work from his best-known years, the 1930s and 1940s, is characterized by imagery of the urban environment, such as elevated subway tracks, skyscrapers, streets, and bridges. Criss rendered these subjects with a streamlined, abstracted style, devoid of human figures, that led him to be associated with the Precisionism movement. With distorted perspectives and dream-like juxtapositions, as in Jefferson Market Courthouse (1935), these empty cityscapes also suggest the influence of Surrealism.
All images, photographs, and text on this site are protected under United States and international copyright laws, and are the sole and exclusive property of Katherine Criss unless a third party is specified. The use of any image or text as the basis for another concept or illustration without written permission from Katherine Criss is a violation of copyright and may also violate the copyright of third parties. To request permission to use an image or text e-mail kcriss1@juno.com.
