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Sam FrancisPrimaries1964
1964
$4,500
£3,440.78
€3,941.44
CA$6,346.82
A$6,907.78
CHF 3,691.27
MX$83,419.58
NOK 46,390.21
SEK 43,148.30
DKK 29,444.39
About the Item
Sam Francis (1923-1994) is one of the most distinctive and collected 20th-century abstract artists.
Francis began painting while recuperating after a plane crash whilst serving in WWII. Initially art-making was a distraction, but he committed himself fully to painting upon his return to the United states in the mid 40's, pouring his focus in to artistic education. After receiving a Masters in art from UC Berkley in 1950, Francis moved to Paris which would serve a crucial role in helping develop his aesthetic language. By 1953 one of his canvases was included in the MoMA's seminal exhibition "Twelve Artists" which quickly led to an international reputation.
Stylistically, Francis is associated with the second-generation abstract expressionist artists and, to a lesser degree, the Parisian Tachists. Although American, he was not tethered to New York City, instead spending the 1950s as an expat, working and exhibiting in Paris, Mexico City, Japan, and Switzerland. As a result, he does not fit neatly in to the categories normally used to describe post-war abstraction. Additionally he is known and cherished around the world.
With an explosive energy, this lithograph represents Francis' signature style. Featuring a combination of splatters and biomorphic forms executed in primary red, blue, and yellow, the composition vibrates with verve. The primaries are applied with slight transparency, creating new hues as they overlap. The white space is activated by the movement of ink splatters.
This lithograph was completed at a peak moment in Francis' career, in the same year that he participated in the 32nd Venice Biennale and Documenta.
Today, Francis is represented in the permanent collections of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Kunstmuseum Basel, among other institutions. On the secondary market, his work frequently commands seven figures.
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Untitled (SF-74, a.k.a. Primaries)
USA, 1964
Lithograph in colors on kochi rice paper
Signed lower right, inscribed "Artist Proof" and numbered lower centre
Published by Joseph Press, Los Angeles, with their blindstamp
Printed by Joseph Zirker at Joseph Press, Los Angeles
15.5"H 22.5"W (sheet)
24.25"H 32.5"W (framed)
Very good condition
Catalogue Raisonné: Listed as item 81, on page 2, row 7 of the online catalogue raisonné project by the Sam Francis Foundation.
Reference: Lembark 67
- Creator:Sam Francis (1923–1994, American)
- Creation Year:1964
- Dimensions:Height: 15.5 in (39.37 cm)Width: 22.5 in (57.15 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement Style:
- Period:
- Condition:very good condition.
- Gallery Location:Toronto, CA
- Reference Number:Seller: 11-251stDibs: LU215217317032
Sam Francis
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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