Sam Francis was an American artist known for his exuberantly colorful, large-scale abstract paintings. His practice incorporated elements from Abstract Expressionism, Color Field painting, Impressionism and Eastern philosophy to create a unique style of painterly abstraction.
Influenced by Jackson Pollock and Clyfford Still, Francis is more closely associated to the work of Helen Frankenthaler, as he was more interested in the formal arrangement of the picture plane than the expressivity of the individual artist. “Painting is about the beauty of space and the power of containment,” Francis once reflected.
Born on June 25, 1923 in San Mateo, California, Francis briefly served in the US Air Force during World War II but was injured during a test flight. Returning to California, he received his BA and MA from UC Berkeley in botany and psychology before beginning to pursue a career in art. The artist traveled widely during his career, and he was closely aligned with the Art Informel movement while living abroad in Paris during the 1950s.
Francis died on November 4, 1994 in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 71. He was a founding trustee of Los Angeles’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and his paintings can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Kunstmuseum Basel, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, among others.
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Untitled Ink Drawing on Paper, 1974, by Mark di Suvero
Located in Dallas, TX
This 1974 ink drawing on paper is by American sculptor Mark di Suvero (b. 1933). Early in his artistic career, working part time in construction, he was inspired by the raw material ...
Paper
Ink Sketch by Mark di Suvero
Located in Dallas, TX
Born in 1933, the son of an Italian diplomat in Shanghai, China, Marco Polo di Suvero immigrated with his family to the United States at the start of WWII. Working construction to su...
Paper
Harry Bertoia monoprint
By Harry Bertoia
Located in Dallas, TX
After an intense day of casting and welding mid-century artist Harry Bertoia (American, born Italian. 1915-1978) would unwind by creating one-of-a-kind prints, laying rice paper on a...
Paper
Robert Rauschenberg triptych 'Autobiography', 1968
By Robert Rauschenberg
Located in Dallas, TX
Robert Rauschenberg triptych 'Autobiography', 1968 Each framed work measures 50.5 x 68 Rauschenberg’s monumental print Autobiography (1968) is a summation work that brings togethe...
Paper
Robert Motherwell 'Mulligan's Tower' Etching, 1983
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Dallas, TX
Robert Motherwell (America, 1915-1991) was a pioneer in the Abstract Expressionist art movement which flourished in New York City in the mid 20th Century. As a painter, printmaker a...
Paper
Abstract Painting by Lamar Briggs
Located in Dallas, TX
Known as an abstract colorist, Lamar Briggs (American, 1935-2015) began experimenting with acrylic paints in the early 1970's. In this undated work on paper he's thinned his medium d...
Paint, Paper
An 8 Set - 7 - From the Pasadena Box
By Sam Francis
Located in London, GB
Lithograph 38.4 x 56.5 cms (15 1/8 x 22 1/4 ins) Edition of 100
Lithograph
Sam Francis (Am. 1923-1994) “Paradise of Ash” Large Scale Framed Dyptich
By Sam Francis
Located in Chicago, IL
Sam Francis (American, 1923-1994). Pair of color lithographs titled "Paradise of Ash" depicting blocks of color with the artist's signature network of splashes, 1981. The black squar...
Plexiglass, Giltwood, Paper
Abstract Sam Francis Artist Proof Lithograph
By Sam Francis
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Abstract Sam Francis (1923-1994) Artist Proof lithograph from the early 1960s. This piece was acquired in 1984 from the Smith Anderson Gallery. Fram...
Paper
SF-197, Signed Abstract Expressionist Lithograph by Sam Francis
By Sam Francis
Located in Long Island City, NY
Sam Francis, noted for his lyrical, colorful abstract works, was one of the first American artists to experiment with "empty-center" painting. Born in 1923 in San Mateo, California, ...
Lithograph
UNTITLED
By Sam Francis
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Original Lithograph 38 3/8 x 28 inches Signed Lower Right Dated and Numbered 25/28 Lower Left
Lithograph
Untitled SF-221, Abstract Lithograph by Sam Francis
By Sam Francis
Located in Long Island City, NY
A signed and numbered abstract print by Sam Francis. This bold composition is made up entirely of black on white and lithographed o...
Lithograph
