Francis Lee Jaques

Francis Lee Jaques’ family moved to Elmo near Topeka in 1899, where he first developed an interest in birds and their migration patterns. They later lived near Durham before relocating to northern Minnesota in 1903. Jaques worked in a taxidermy shop before joining the railroad in 1913. After serving in World War I, he studied art under Clarence Rosenkranz. In the early 1920s, Jaques became an illustrator, and in 1924, he was hired as a staff artist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. There, he created dioramas and background paintings for exhibits. He retired in 1942 to freelance as a wildlife painter and illustrator, contributing to magazines like Outdoor Life and Field and Stream, and books such as The Birds of Minnesota and The Singing Wilderness. Jaques returned to Minnesota in 1953, having painted over 50 diorama backgrounds and illustrated more than 40 books during his career.