Francis Hyman Criss (1901 - 1973) was a distinguished American painter best recognized for his contributions to the Precisionist movement alongside contemporaries Charles Demuth and Charles Sheeler. His definitive work during the 1930s and 1940s focused on urban infrastructure, transforming skyscrapers, bridges, and elevated subway tracks into streamlined, geometric compositions. By intentional design, these cityscapes lacked human figures and utilized distorted perspectives, creating a compelling, surreal aesthetic.
While a mid-career pivot toward commercial projects—including a notable 1942 cover for Fortune Magazine—temporarily impacted his broader critical standing, his artistic legacy remains firmly secure. Today, his paintings are held in the permanent collections of major cultural institutions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Brooklyn Museum. Notably, his acclaimed piece Alma Sewing, housed at the High Museum of Art, continues to receive contemporary praise as a masterwork of refined technique and structured American realism.
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| Francis Criss |
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| Mural Study, 1930 |
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| Untitled (Under the El), 1931 |
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| Astor Place, 1932 |
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| Americana, 1933 |
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| Jefferson Market Courthouse, 1933 |
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| Pattern for Tracks, 1933 |
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| Third Avenue El, 1933 |
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| City Landscape, 1934 |
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| City Store Fronts, 1934 |
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| Fascism, 1934 |
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| Morning in Florence, 1934 |
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| Alma Sewing, 1935 |
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| El Station, 1935 |
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| Renovations, 1935-40 |
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| Sixth Avenue El, 1937 |
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| Winter Morning, 1938 |
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| Words and Music of Two Hemispheres, 1938 |
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| Waterfront, 1940 |
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| Cold Room, 1940-42 |
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| Nembutal Broadside, 1940-45 |
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| For Every Mother's Son, 1942 |
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Day-Shift, 1943 detail |
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| Day-Shift, 1943 |
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| WWII Help Bring Them Back To You! 1943 |
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| New York Waterfront, 1944-45 |
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| Still Life with Figure, 1950 |
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| Portrait of a Woman, mid 20th Century |
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| Jefferson Market Courthouse Portrait of the Artist, mid 20th Century |
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| Portrait of a Woman, mid 20th Century |