SAM FRANCIS
BIO
Artworks available
CV
Born in 1923 in San Mateo, USA.
Died in 1994, Santa Monica, USA.
One of the twentieth century’s most profound Abstract Expressionists, American artist Sam Francis is noted as one of the first post-World War II painters to develop an international reputation. Francis created thousands of paintings as well as works on paper, prints and monotypes, housed in major museum collections and institutions around the world. Regarded as one of the leading interpreters of color and light, his work holds references to New York abstract expressionism, color field painting, Chinese and Japanese art, French impressionism and his own Bay Area roots.
After graduating from Cal Berkeley in 1950 with a degree in art, Francis moved to Paris, where he would go on to be named by Time Magazine as, “the hottest American painter in Paris these days.” A transformative period of his career, Francis immersed himself in a study of Monet’s Water Lilies and was influenced by his close friendships with the Matisse family and artists Al Held, Joan Mitchell, and Jean-Paul Riopelle.
For the next four decades he traveled and studied extensively, maintaining studios in Bern, Paris, Tokyo, Mexico City, New York and Northern and Southern California. Through his travels he was exposed to many styles, techniques and cultural influences, which informed the development of his own dialogue and style of painting. Francis possessed a lyrical and gestural hand, enabling him to capture and record the brilliance, energy and intensity of color at different moments of time and periods of his life. His paintings embody his love of literature, music and science, while reflecting his deep range of emotions and personal turmoil.
Not only are Francis’s paintings valued historically for their aesthetic vision, but his inquisitive mind and spirit have solidified Francis’s legacy as a contemporary renaissance man. His interest in the creative process was expansive and synergistic – art, technology, psychology, science, medicine, and protecting the environment (before it became a movement).
EDUCATION
1949
BA, University of California, Berkeley, USA
SOLO SHOWS (SELECTION)
2013 - 2014
Sam Francis: Five Decades of Abstract Experssionism from California Collections, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, USA
2012
Sam Francis: Works from the 1950s on paper and canvas, Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Sam Francis, Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland
2011
Sam Francis. The exploration of color, Sotheby's (S2) New York, USA
Sam Francis, Guy Pieters Gallery, Paris, France
Sam Francis: Paintings from the Catalogue Raisonné, Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Sam Francis, Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland
2009
Sam Francis - Malerei und Grafik, Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Bielefeld, Germany
1999 - 2001
Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA; travelled to Menil Collection, Houston, USA; Malmo Konsthall, Malmo, Sweden; the Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; Galleria Comunale d'Art Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, Italy
1999
Retrospective: Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA
1997
Sam Francis: The Archetypal Image, Frederick M. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, USA; travelled to The Fundación Caja de Madrid, Spain
1995
The Last Paintings of Sam Francis, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
1993
Retrospective exhibition at Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, Germany
1991
Retrospective at Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland
1979
Retrospective of works on paper at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, USA – traveled to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Manila, Korea and Japan under the US International Communications Agency
1972
Sam Francis: Retrospective, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, USA – traveled to Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C
André Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
1968
Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France
Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1967
Sam Francis: Retrospective, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA – traveled to University Art Museum, Berkeley, USA
1960 – 1961
Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
1959
Solo exhibition at Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, USA – traveled to San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, and Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA
GROUP SHOWS (SELECTION)
2013
Renard Collection, Fondation Beijeler, Basel, Switzerland
2012
Pasadena to Santa Barbara: A Selected History of Art in Southern California, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, USA
2009
Time & Place: Los Angeles, 1958-1968, Kunsthaus Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
2008
Choices, Galerie Willy Schoots, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Action Painting, Foundation Beyeler, Riehen, Switzerland
Time & Place: Los Angeles, 1958-1968, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
2007
Grand Gestures: The Gordon F. Hampton Collection, University Art Museum, Long Beach, USA
Art Market Now, The Columns, Seoul, South Korea
2006
Afro & incotri e Confronti italia America, Gallerie d'Arte Moderna di Udine GAMUD, Udine, Italy
Zeitschnitt, Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Bielefeld, Germany
2005
Intuitive Reflection, Art Forum Ute Barth, Zurich, Switzerland
Austrian Contemporary Art and Postwar Painting, Museo de Art Contemporaneo de Monrerrey MARCO, Monterrey, Mexico
2004
Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Bielefeld, Germany
Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, Germany
2003
Special Proofs: 1963-1989, Timothy Yarger Fine Art, Beverly Hills, USA
Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
Iwaki City Art, Fukushima, Japan
Oita Art Museum, Oita, Japan
Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland
2002
Galerie Andreas Baumgarti, Munich, Germany
Lovers Fine Arts, Gstaad, Switzerland
Museum of Modern Art, Toyama, Japan
Kawamura Memorial Museum, Chiba, Japan
Museum of Art, Eime, Japan
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, USA
2000
Lawrence Rubin, Greenberg, Van Doren Fine Art, New York, USA
Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Richard Gray Gallery, New York and Chicago, USA
Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo and Osaka, Japan
1999
Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, USA
Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley, USA
Gallery Faurschou, Copenhagen, Denmark
Ikon Ltd., Los Angeles, USA
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Galerie Pascal Retelet, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, Germany
Pace Editions, New York, USA
Galerie Loeper, Hamburg, Germany
1998
Dorothy Blau Gallery, Bal Harbour, USA
Thomas Segal Gallery, Baltimore, USA
ACA Galerie, Munich, Germany
Gallery Guy Pieters, Knokke, Belguim
Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, Italy
1997
André Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Museo d’Arte, Mendrisio, Switzerland
Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, USA
Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Galerie Pascal Retelet, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
1996
Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, USA
Sogetsu Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Gallery Guy Pieters, Knokke, Belgium
Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin, Germany
Galerie Proarta, Zurich, Switzerland
1995
André Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Grunwald/UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA
Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg, Germany
Les Années Parisiennes 1950-1961 at the Galerie National du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France
1994
Long Fine Arts, New York, USA
Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
Galerie Proarta, Zurich, Switzerland
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, USA
1993
Galerie Pudelko, Bonn, Switzerland
Bobbie Greenfield Fine Art, Los Angeles, USA
Michele Cohen Gallery, New York, USA
Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, USA
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angels, USA
Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland
1992
Galerie Daniel Papierski, Paris, France
Museum van der Togt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
1991
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Angles Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Associated American Artists, New York, USA
Gagosian Gallery, New York, USA
Centre Régional d’Art Contemporain Midi-Pyrénées, France
1990
Associated American Artists, New York, USA
GalleryDelaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Heland Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Ogawa Art Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, USA
Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, USA
1989
André Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, England
Sun Valley Center Gallery, Ketchum, USA
Linda Farris Gallery, Seattle, USA
Cantor/Lemberg Gallery, Birmingham, USA
Knoedler Gallery, London, England
1988
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, USA
Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis, USA
Galerie Seoul, South Korea
Travelling exhibition throughout Japan organized by The Museum of Modern Art, Toyama and Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1987
Knoedler Gallery, London, England
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara, USA
Heland Thorden Wetterling Galleries, Stockholm, Sweden
G. Dalsheimer Gallery, Baltimore, USA
Galeria Eude, Barcelona, Spain
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Galerie Pudelko, Bonn, Germany
Lever/Meyerson Galleries, New York, USA
1986
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
Nantenshi Gallery, Toyko, Japan
Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, USA
La Mairie de Paris, Paris, France
1985
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
Nantenshi Gallery, Toyko, Japan
Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, USA
Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, USA
Hokin Gallery, West Palm Beach, USA
1984
André Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara, USA
Brooke Alexander, Inc., New York, USA
Cantor/Lemberg Gallery, Birmingham, USA
Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, USA
Thomas Babeor Gallery, La Jolla, USA
Knoedler Gallery, London, England
Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, USA
Steven Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, USA
1983
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland
Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, USA
Foundation Maeght, Saint Paul de Vence, France
Studio Marconi, Milan, Italy
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
Art Attack Gallery, Boise, USA
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1982
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, USA
1981
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Ruth Schaffner Gallery, Santa Barbara, USA
Faith and Charity in Hope Gallery, Hope, USA
1980
Riko Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, USA
Abbaye de Senanque, Gordes, France
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
1979
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Brooke Alexander, Inc., New York, USA
Art in Progress at Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Gallery of the Cultural Center of the Phillippines, Taipei, Taiwan
1978
Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, USA
Musee National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1977
Art in Progress at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark
Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA
Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, USA
Galerie Kornfeld und Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland
Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, USA
1974
Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Idemitsu Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
1972
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, USA
Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, USA
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, USA
Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
1967
San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, USA
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, USA
Snow painting performance in Naibara, Japan
1966
Sky painting performance over Tokyo Bay, Japan
1961 - 1964
Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Galerie Kornfeld an Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland
Galerie Benador, Zurich, Switzerland
Documenta III, museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
1960 - 1961
Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, USA
1957 - 1958
Hyakkaten Department Store, Tokyo, Japan
Kintetsu Department Store, Osaka, Japan
The Phillips Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1957
Gimpel Fils, London, UK
1956
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie Rive Droite, Paris, France
12 Americans, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
1955
Galerie Rive Droite, Paris, France
Tendances actuelles de l’Ecole de Paris III, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland
1952
Galerie du Dragon, Paris, France
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
Tate Gallery, London, UK
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA
Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland
PUBLICATIONS (SELECTION)
Yves Michaud, Sam Francis, Paris, Daniel Papierski, 1992
Sam Francis : Les années parisiennes 1950-1961, catalogue de l’exposition de la Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume (décembre 1995-février 1996), Paris, Édition du Jeu de Paume, 1995
Debra Burchett-Lere, Sam Francis – Catalogue Raisonne of canvas and panel paintings, 1946-1994, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2011
John Yau, Sam Francis, Londres, Éditions Bernard Jacobson Ltd, 2014