Much has been written over the years
about Louise Evelina du Pont (1872
– 1958) in Boca Grande, Florida,
while less is known about her husband,
Francis Boardman Crowninshield. Louise was
large, not only in size and personality, but
most importantly was a major benefactress
of the island, and Frank took backstage to
her prominent role in the community. She
reached out to everyone, rich or poor, young
or old, and her unfl agging philanthropy
produced a legacy that still benefi ts the
people of Boca Grande.
In contrast, Frank was more reserved than
his wife, but he was noted for his strong
political opinions and delightful sense of
humor. He found his world in Boca Grande
in areas other than Louise’s. His was the
less public domain of hunting, fi shing,
sailing, painting, and writing about his boat,
Cleopatra’s Barge II, and his family history.
But his numerous watercolor paintings of
their home and the island, remain his greatest
homage to Boca Grande.
A few watercolor paintings of Boca Grande
scenery done by Francis Crowninshield.
Surprisingly, Frank never had any art
training, but we know that he began to paint
in 1924. Over the years he developed an
increasing expertise in the use of color and
sophisticated brushwork, and used a unique
three-pointed crown within a shield, literally a
“crown-in-shield,” as his signature.
By the 1920s he and Louise had regularized
their stays – winter at Las Olas (“the Waves”)
in Boca Grande, spring and fall at “Eleutherian
Mills” (the original du Pont family home
in Montchanin, Delaware) and summer at
“Seaside Farm,” Peach’s Point, Marblehead,
Massachusetts.
These places became the inspiration for his
watercolors. As his love of painting continued,
he would exhibit at the Stockbridge
Massachusetts Art Association in 1926, 1930,
and 1931, and have a one-man show in 1944
at the New York City Ferargil Gallery. After
his death, a fi nal one-man exhibition of his
watercolors was held in his honor in the fall of
1951 at the Delaware Museum of Art, formerly
the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts.
May/June • 2021 • GASPARILLA MAGAZINE 47