Sam Francis

born San Mateo, CA (USA) 1923 died Santa Monica, CA (USA) 1994

Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California in 1923. He first studied botany, psychology, and medicine at the University of California, Berkeley. During his brief service in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II he suffered an injury during a training flight which hospitalized him for several years. In convalescing he began to paint and ultimately returned to UC Berkeley where he received his B.A. in 1949 and M.A. in 1950. In 1969 he received an honorary Ph.D.

Over the years Francis worked for long periods of time in studios in Paris, New York,and Tokyo while traveling back and forth to his primary residences in Santa Monica, Palo Alto, and Pt. Reyes, California.

Sam Francis's works have been exhibited internationally for over fifty years. He is represented in numerous public and private collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan to include: the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Louisiana Museum of Art, Denmark; the Musee national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. He has been represented over the years by many important galleries to include: Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam; Lawrence Rubin Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles; and Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.

On November 4, 1994 Sam Francis passed away in Santa Monica, California.

Select Timeline

• 1923 - Born June 25 in San Mateo, CA
• 1943 - To 1948 - Served in the United States Army Corps and began painting whilst convalescing from an injury
• 1949 - B.A. University of California at Berkeley, CA
• 1946 - To 1950 - Began painting in San Francisco
• 1950 - M.A. University of California at Berkeley, CA
• 1950 - To 1958 - Lived and worked in Paris, with travels to Mexico, Japan and Europe
• 1959 - Lived in New York City
• 1959 - To 1961 - Lived in Bern, Switzerland
• 1961 - Established permanent home in Santa Monica
• 1968 - Received honorary PhD from University of California at Berkeley, CA
• 1970 - Established the Litho Shop to print his own lithographs in Santa Monica
• 1973 - To 1974 - Lived and painted primarily in Tokyo, Japan
• 1975 - To 1977 - Began collaborating with Garner Tullis on monotpyes at the Institute of Experimental Printing
• 1981 - Appointed Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, by the French Ministry of Culture
• 1984 - Established Lapis Press to publish artists' books
• 1987 - To 1989 - Founded the Sam Francis Medical Research Center to support the research of infectious and environmental diseases
• 1993 - Donated ten major paintings to The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
• 1994 - Honoured with Distinguished Alumnus Award by the University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, which also then created the Sam Francis Scholarship
• 1994 - Died November 4, Santa Monica

Select Exhibitions

• 2004 - Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam
• 2004 - Baukunst Galerie, Cologne
• 2003 - Timothy Yarger Fine Art, Beverly Hills, California, Special Proofs, 1963-1989
• 2003 - Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
• 2003 - Iwaki City Art, Fukushima, Japan
• 2003 - Oita Art Museum, Oita, Japan
• 2002 - Galerie Andreas Baumgarti, Munich
• 2002 - Lovers Fine Arts, Gstaad, Switzerland
• 2002 - Museum of Modern Art, Toyama , Japan
• 2002 - Kawamura Memorial Museum, Chiba, Japan
• 2002 - Museum of Art, Eime, Japan
• 2002 - University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• 2001 - Alan Cristea Gallery, London, in association with Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art
• 1999 - 2001 - Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
• 2000 - Lawrence Rubin, Greenberg, Van Doren Fine Art, New York
• 2000 - Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, Holland
• 2000 - Richard Gray Gallery, New York and Chicago
• 2000 - Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo and Osaka, Japan
• 1999 - Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles; Robert Green Fine Arts, California
• 1999 - Retrospective: Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
• 1998 - Dorothy Blau Gallery, Florida; Thomas Segal Gallery, Baltimore
• 1997 - Sam Francis: The Archetypal Image, Frederick M. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University of Malibu
• 1997 - Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles
• 1996 - Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto; Sogetsu Art Museum, Tokyo; Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam
• 1995 - The Last Paintings of Sam Francis at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• 1995 - Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles; Grunwald/UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum, Los Angeles;
• 1995 - Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Germany; Les Annees Parisiennes 1950-1961 at the Galerie National du Jeu de Paume, Paris
• 1995 - 'The Last Paintings of Sam Francis' a group of 152 small paintings, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• 1994 - Long Fine Arts, New York; Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam
• 1993 - Retrospective exhibition at Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, Germany
• 1993 - Galerie Pudelko, Bonn, Switzerland; Bobbie Greenfield Fine Art, Los Angeles
• 1993 - Donated ten major paintings to The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
• 1992 - Galerie Daniel Papierski, Paris
• 1992 - Museum van der Togt, Amsterdam, Holland
• 1992 - Kukje Gallery, Seoul, Korea
• 1991 - Retrospective at Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland
• 1991 - Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles
• 1990 - Associated American Artists, New York; GalleryDelaive, Amsterdam
• 1989 - Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• 1988 - Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• 1987 - Knoedler Gallery, London; Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York
• 1986 - Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• 1985 - Galerie Kornfeld, Bern; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Nantenshi Gallery, Toyko
• 1985 - National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
• 1984 - Established Lapis Press to publish artists' books
• 1984 - Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Pamela Auchincloss, Gallery, Santa Barbara
• 1983 - Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland
• 1982 - Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
• 1981 - Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Ace Gallery, Los Angeles
• 1979 - Retrospective of works on paper at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
• 1979 - Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France; Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York
• 1979 - Gallery of the Cultural Center of the Phillippines, Taipei, Taiwan
• 1978 - Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles; Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles
• 1975 - 1977 - Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles
• 1975 - 1977 - Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
• 1975 - 1977 - Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York
• 1975 - 1977 - Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
• 1975 - 1977 - Galerie Kornfeld und Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland
• 1975 - 1977 - Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California
• 1975 - 1977 - Began collaborating with Garner Tullis on monotypes at the Institute of Experimental Printmaking, San Francisco
• 1974 - Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• 1974 - Idemitsu Art Museum, Tokyo
• 1972 - Retrospective solo museum exhibition at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
• 1969 - 1972 - Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
• 1969 - 1972 - Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles
• 1969 - 1972 - Solo shows at Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles
• 1968 - Solo museum exhibition at Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Paris and Kunsthalle Basel. Solo show at Minami Gallery, Tokyo
• 1968 - Kunsthalle Basel
• 1968 - Minami Gallery, Tokyo
• 1967 - Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York
• 1967 - Retrospective at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX- traveled to University Art Museum, Berkeley; San Francisco Museum of Art
• 1967 - Snow Painting performance in Naibara, Japan
• 1966 - Sky painting performance over Tokyo Bay, Japan
• 1961 - 1964 - Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• 1961 - 1964 - Galerie Kornfeld an Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland
• 1961 - 1964 - Galerie Benador, Zurich, Germany
• 1961 - 1964 - Documenta III, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
• 1961 - Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, California
• 1960 - 1961 - Solo museum show at Kunsthalle, Bern
• 1959 - Mural commission by the Chase Manhattan Bank
• 1959 - Solo exhibition at Pasadena Art Museum, California
• 1958 - The Phillips Gallery, Washington, DC
• 1957 - 1958 - Hyakkaten Department Store, Tokyo, Japan
• 1957 - 1958 - Kintetsu Department Store, Osaka, Japan
• 1957 - Gimpel Fils, London
• 1956 - Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
• 1956 - Galerie Rive Droite, Paris
• 1956 - '12 Americans' The Museum of Modern Art, New York
• 1955 - Galerie Rive Droite, Paris
• 1955 - Tendances actuelles de l'Ecole de Paris III at Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland
• 1952 - Galerie du Dragon, Paris

Select Artwork

• Ohne Titel, Los Angeles, 1963
• Venice, 1990
• Asian Dyes No. 2, 1973
• Blue Window, 1959
• Blue Balls (Tokyo), 1960
• Composition, 1954
• Vegetable II, 1971
• For James Kirsch, 1972
• Living in our own light no. 5, 1976
• Swatch, 1996
• Of Vega, 1972
• The East is Red, 1970
• Foot Print, 1960
• King Corpse, 1986
• Doubled Cross, 1973
• Pioggia d'Oro, 1988

Quotes

• "What we want is to make something that fills utterly the sight and can't be used to make life only bearable."
• "Color is born of the interpenetration of light and dark."
• "An increase in light gives an increase in darkness."

Publications

• Sam Francis, Paintings 1947-1990 - by William C. Agee, Sam Francis, Calif.) Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (1999)
• Sam Francis: The Shadow of Colors - by Ingrid Moessinger, Peter Iden, Denmark) Louisiana (Museum : Humlebk, Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Stadtische Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Edition Stemmle (June 1995)
• Sam Francis: Color is the essence of it all - by Sam Francis, Martin Sosin (2003)
• The Prints of Sam Francis: A Catalogue Raisonne 1960-1990 (BOX SET) - by Connie W. Lembark, Hudson Hills Press; Boxed edition (November 25, 1992)

Quick Facts

• Francis was initially influenced by the work of abstract expressionists such as Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky and Clyfford Still.
• He spent time in Japan, and some have seen an influence from Zen Buddhism in his work.
• His mature pieces are generally large oil paintings with splashed or splattered areas of bright contrasting color.
• Francis was born in San Mateo, California, and studied botany, medicine and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

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