Born 1880, Dublin, Ireland.
Died 1951.
Born in Dublin, Francis Beckett or Cissie, as she was known, studied in Dublin and Paris.
Beckett exhibited at the RHA from 1897 until 1908 when she married William Sinclair, a Jewish antiques dealer and friend of William Orpen, who was known as ‘The Boss’ Sinclair. Although Beckett continued to paint, the pressures of marriage and motherhood meant that she seldom if ever exhibited.
In 1922 the couple and their four children moved to Kassel, Germany, where Sinclair hoped to find success as an art dealer. Their decision to choose Kassel was influenced by Sinclair’s friend, the Irish artist Cecil ffrench Salkeld, who was based there.
Cissie’s nephew, the writer Samuel Beckett, was a frequent visitor to their home in Kassel where she helped to foster his interest in visual art.