Sam Francis 1923-1994
Born in San Mateo, California. Attended University of California, Berkeley to study medicine and psychology from 1941-3. Francis then studied painting at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco and then at Berkeley from 1948-50, gaining both a BA and an MA qualification. In 1950 he went to Paris and was given his first one-man show in 1952.
His early work circa 1950 is more subdued and lighter in tone than the later work for which he has become famous. Early influences included Cezanne and the Impressionists. In 1957 he began a world tour and spent a long time in New York, Mexico and Japan. His work of this time has been compared to the haboku or ‘flung ink’ style from Japan. Francis was interested in Japanese calligraphy during the 1950’s and the order and delicate application of ink is clearly based in the Japanese tradition.
Francis was included in the Sau Paulo Bienal, Brazil and Documenta II, Germany in 1959. He became increasingly interested in lithography in the early 1960’s and his introduction to the medium by Tatyana Grosman sparked a new way of layering colour for the artist which he has explored throughout his career. ... read more
Born in San Mateo, California. Attended University of California, Berkeley to study medicine and psychology from 1941-3. Francis then studied painting at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco and then at Berkeley from 1948-50, gaining both a BA and an MA qualification. In 1950 he went to Paris and was given his first one-man show in 1952.
His early work circa 1950 is more subdued and lighter in tone than the later work for which he has become famous. Early influences included Cezanne and the Impressionists. In 1957 he began a world tour and spent a long time in New York, Mexico and Japan. His work of this time has been compared to the haboku or ‘flung ink’ style from Japan. Francis was interested in Japanese calligraphy during the 1950’s and the order and delicate application of ink is clearly based in the Japanese tradition.
Francis was included in the Sau Paulo Bienal, Brazil and Documenta II, Germany in 1959. He became increasingly interested in lithography in the early 1960’s and his introduction to the medium by Tatyana Grosman sparked a new way of layering colour for the artist which he has explored throughout his career.
Early in 1960 Francis became very ill and he spent many months recuperating in Switzerland. At this time a friend arranged for Francis to work in the Zurich workshop of the printer Emil Matthieu. By the time he left Switzerland in 1961, Francis was a committed print maker. He has worked in a number of lithographic workshops including the Tamarind Workshop, Joseph Press, and Gemini G.E.L. In 1970 he established his own press, the Lithoshop, in Sante Monica, California.
Much of Francis’ work plays with opaque and transparent colour achieved through lithography. He also often allows the underlayers of colour to be seen through subsequent layers. As with some of the best graphic artists of this century, Francis worked closely with a number of printers trusting and respecting their depth of knowledge and craftsmanship.
The large retrospective of Francis’ work held in Houston and Berkeley in 1967 secured his reputation as one of the leading abstract artists in America.
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