Brennand was born and lived in Recife, Brazil.
In 1949, he traveled to Paris to study painting. In 1950, he won the Second Prize at the 9th Pernambuco Salon with the painting Mamão e Bananas (Papaya and Bananas). In 1961, he started the production of the ceramic mural Batalha dos Guararapes [The Battle of Guararapes], with poems by César Leal (1924–2013) and Ariano Suassuna (1927–2014), at Rua das Flores, in Recife. In 1968, he collaborated with Suassuna in the creation of the costumes for the first cinematographic adaptation of O Auto da Compadecida, with the screenplay of Suassuna.
In 1971, he participated in the 11th Bienal de São Paulo. In the same year, after visiting the ruins of Cerâmica São João, an old ceramics factory founded by his father, he renovated the space and set up his studio, giving birth to what is known today as Oficina Brennand.
Between 1975 and 1985, he produced several ceramic sculptures that occupy the Oficina, where he developed and refined his formal imaginary. He also produced murals and panels for various public and corporate buildings, such as the mural for the Companhia Hidroelétrica do São Francisco (1979, Recife); the ceramic mural for the Companhia de Desenvolvimento do Vale de São Francisco (1980, Brasília); and the Monumento aos Três Heróis da Restauração (1981) for the National Highway Department, in Recife.
In 1985, he participated in the 18th Bienal de São Paulo. In 1989, he participated in the 2nd Bienal Internacional de Óbidos, Portugal. The following year, he represented Brazil at the 44th Venice Biennale. In 1993, the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Berlin held a major retrospective of his work. In 2000, he created the Parque das Esculturas (Sculpture Park), located at Marco Zero in Recife, as part of the project “Eu vi o mundo... Ele começava no Recife” [I saw the world... It began in Recife], which included almost 100 works by the artist. Among his recent works, he made O Gigante Nabuco (2010) for the Brazilian Academy of Letters in Rio de Janeiro and Pássaro Rocca (2013) for the Trianon-Masp subway station in São Paulo.
He has had solo exhibitions in important institutions and galleries, such as Brennand Esculturas: o homem e a natureza at Museu Oscar Niemeyer (Curitiba, 2004); Francisco Brennand: Flores, frutos, bichos e pássaros dos anos 60, 70 e 80, at Museu Afro Brasil (São Paulo, 2007); Francisco Brennand – senhor da várzea, da argila e do fogo, at Santander Cultural (Porto Alegre, 2007); and Francisco Brennand: um primitivo entre os modernos, held at Gomide&Co (São Paulo, 2021), which went to Carpintaria the following year, a gallery space owned by Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel (Rio de Janeiro, 2022).
Francisco Brennand's works are in important institutional and museum collections, such as the Oficina Francisco Brennand, Recife; the Museu do Estado de Pernambuco, Recife; the Museu de Arte Moderna Aloísio Magalhães - MAMAM, Recife; the Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Olinda; the Museu de Arte Moderna de Salvador; the Museu Brasileiro de Escultura e Ecologia - MuBE, São Paulo; Fundação Bienal de São Paulo; Pinacoteca de São Paulo; Museu Afro Brasil, São Paulo; Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand - MASP; Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro; Lugar do Desenho - Fundação Júlio Resende, in Valbom, Portugal; Maison du Brésil - Cité Universitaire, Paris, among others.
