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Francis Davis Millet
1846–1912
An American painter, writer, and traveler, he moved easily between art, journalism, and public life. His career stretched from Civil War service and study in Europe to major roles in the art world, ending tragically when he died in the sinking of the Titanic.
3 Audiobooks
The Danube from the Black Forest to the Black Sea
by Francis Davis Millet
A Capillary Crime, and Other Stories
by Francis Davis Millet
Some Artists at the Fair
by Francis Davis Millet, W. Hamilton (William Hamilton) Gibson, Will H. (Will Hicok) Low, John Ames Mitchell, Francis Hopkinson Smith
About the author
Born in 1846 in Massachusetts, Francis Davis Millet built an unusually wide-ranging career. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War, later earned both undergraduate and master's degrees from Harvard, and studied painting at the Royal Academy in Antwerp.
Millet became known as a painter and muralist whose work reached major museums, but he was more than a studio artist. He traveled widely, reported on the Turkish War for the New York Herald, wrote travel books, translated Tolstoy, and helped write a book on the planning and design of the 1893 World's Fair with Daniel Burnham.
He also held important positions in cultural institutions, including service as secretary of the American Academy in Rome and later as vice chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. In 1912, his life was cut short when he died in the sinking of the Titanic, a dramatic end to a career that had touched painting, literature, design, and public service.