Francis Cyril Rose (1909–1979), also Sir Francis, 4th

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

of the Montreal Roses, was an English painter vigorously championed by

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...

. His wife Frederica, Lady Rose (1910–2002) became a well known travel writer, notably on Corsica, under the name of Dorothy Carrington. Rose was born at Moor Park, Hertfordshire, England. He took up residence as an expatriate in Paris between 1929 and 1936, where he trained under

Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...

and

José Maria Sert Josep Maria Sert i Badia (; Barcelona, 21 December 1874 – 27 November 1945, buried in the Vic Cathedral) was a Spanish People, Spanish muralist, the son of an affluent textile industry family, and friend of Salvador Dalí. He was particularly ...

. Francis Rose got his beginning as a set painter for

Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...

's Ballets Russes. He occasionally collaborated in his work with another English painter, and his sometime lover, Christopher Wood. In the 1930s he travelled with his future wife, Dorothy Carrington, in France, Italy, and North Africa. In France, Rose became an intimate acquaintance of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, the former helping to launch his painting career by commissioning several of his works (most notably a portrait of herself) for her own notable art collection. Her memorable utterance, "

Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose The sentence "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" was written by Gertrude Stein as part of the 1913 poem "Sacred Emily", which appeared in the 1922 book ''Geography and Plays''. In that poem, the first "Rose" is the name of a person. Stein later ...

" dates from 1913; however, long before her acquaintance with the artist, who would go on to have exhibits in Paris, London, and New York. He also worked as an illustrator for a cookbook by Toklas, '' The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook''. Rose married the writer Dorothy Carrington in 1942. Toklas was greatly enthusiastic about Rose's marriage to "Frederica" (Carrington), noting that the marriage had done Rose "a world of good."Justin Spring. 2010. ''Secret Historian: the Life and Times of

Samuel Steward Samuel Morris Steward (July 23, 1909 – December 31, 1993), also known as Phil Andros, Phil Sparrow, and many other pseudonyms, was a poet, novelist, and university professor who left the world of academia to become a tattoo artist and p ...

, professor, Tattoo Artist. and Sexual Renegade''. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, p. 97. However, Rose was a noted homosexual and the marriage eventually foundered; they divorced in 1966. Rose spent his final years in penury, helped along by friends, among them

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the t ...

. Some of Rose's paintings today form part of the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

(Stein-Toklas collection) and the

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...

. In 1961, he published a memoir, ''Saying Life''. He made a brief appearance as "Lord Chaos" in

Kenneth Anger Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927) is an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and author. Working exclusively in short films, he has produced almost 40 works since 1937, nine of which have been grouped ...

's film '' Lucifer Rising'' (1972).

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Francis Cyril 1909 births 1979 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom English artists English gay artists 20th-century English LGBT people Clan Rose