Francis Higer Quint, 1907 - 1994

Pictured: Spring Flowers, Woodcut print

Selections from the Art Gallery Collection

“Fran” was a distinguished Michigan artist and illustrator from the Detroit area. She studied art at the Parsons School of Design in New York and later earned her BFA from Wayne State University. She continued to follow her passion for printmaking by traveling to Japan to learn and refine her woodblock printing style later in life. As a friend of the Detroit Children’s Museum she met writer Mary Dodge and together they published “Maconsquah: Small Bear Woman”. The book is illustrated with Quint’s wood block prints.

Former SVSU Professor of Art Dr. Barron Hirsch (1932-2024) established the University Art Gallery and had a long professional relationship with Mrs. Quint. Upon her death in August of 1994, her trust administrated by her two children Professor Peter Quint from the University of Maryland School of Law and Barbara Gray of New York, recognizing the years long friendship gifted the collection of works on paper, matrices, and tools to the University Art Gallery for the purposes of education and exhibition.

In this exhibition, you will see both Francis Quint’s printmaking skill and her finesse with watercolor. The show is divided into media sections so you can see how her work progressed and how the media influences her subject matter. Older pieces are signed with her maiden name Higer.