Sam Francis
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Overview
Born in 1923 in San Mateo, California, Sam Francis was an American abstract painter who turned to painting whilst recovering from severe injuries sustained as a fighter pilot in the Second World War. Francis later undertook a degree in painting at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1950, Francis went to Paris and enrolled at Fernand Léger's private academy. Over the next ten years, he split his time between Paris, New York, and Japan, absorbing influences from the New York School, Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard, Clyfford Still, French Tachistes, and Zen calligraphers. His work, however, remains singular in its ability to fuse these influences with an approach to light and colour, structure and composition, which is uniquely his own. His work can be found in major international museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art in New York; Kunstmuseum in Basel; and the Centre Pompidou in Paris
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Biography
Education
1949 B.A. University of California, Berkeley
1950 M.A. University of California, Berkeley
1968 Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
Selected Exhibitions
1952 Galerie Nina Dausset, Paris, France
Galerie du Dragon, Paris, France
1955 Galerie Rive Droite, Paris, France
1956 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, New York
Galerie Rive Droite, Paris, France
1957 Gimpel Fils, London
1959 Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, California; travels to San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
1959-1961 Kunsthalle Bern; travels to Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
1961-1964 Documenta III, Kassel, Germany
Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Galerie Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland
Galerie Benador, Zurich, Switzerland
1966 'Sky painting' performance over Tokyo Bay, Japan
1967 Retrospective at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; travels to University Art Museum, Berkeley; San Francisco Museum of Art
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, New York
'Snow painting' performance in Naibara, Japan
1968 Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France
Kunsthalle, Basel, Switzerland
Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1969-1972 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
André Emmerich Gallery, New York, New York
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, New York
Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1972 Retrospective at Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; travels to Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Dallas Museum of Fine Art, Dallas, Texas; Oakland Museum of Art, California
Stanford University Museum of Art, California
1974 Idemitsu Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1975-1977 André Emmerich Gallery, New York
Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
Galerie Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland
Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California
1977-1979 Louisiana Museum of Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, California
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts
1980 L'Abbaye de Sénanque, Centre International de Création Artistique, Gordes, France; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; California James Corcoran Gallery, New York, New York
1981 André Emmerich Gallery, New York, New York
Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1983 Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, California
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence, France
Studio Marconi, Milan, Italy
Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1985 Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1988 Toyama Museum, Toyama, Japan; travels to The Museum of Modern Art, Seibu Takanawa, Karuizawa; The Museum of Modern Art, Shiga; Ohara Museum of Art, Murashiki; Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
1989 Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
1990 Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
Associated American Artists, New York, New York
Ogawa Art Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
1991 Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Brussels
James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Centre Regional d'Art Contemporain Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse-Labege, France
1992 Museum van der Togt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1993 Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Venice, California
Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, Germany
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California
1994 University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley
Long Fine Art, New York, New York
Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1995 The Last Paintings of Sam Francis, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Hammer Museum, University of California - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Kunstverein Ludwigsberg, Frankfurt, Germany
Musée du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France
1997 Sam Francis: The Archetypal Image, Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California
Musée d'Arte, Mendrisio, Switzerland
1998 Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona
Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam
Thomas Segal Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland
Galleria d'Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, Italy
1999-2001 Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; travels to The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas; Konthall Malmö, Sweden; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; Galleria Communale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, Italy
2000 Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri
Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Osaka and Tokyo, Japan
2001 Galerie Guy Pieters, Saint-Paul de Vence, France
2002-2004 Galerie Boisserée, Koln, Germany
Robert Sandelson, London, United Kingdom
Artemis Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York, New York
Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich, Germany
2006-2007 Kunstmuseum, Bern, Switzerland
Galerie Flintholm, Verster Skerninge, Denmark
Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, California
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
2008 Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, California
Galleria San Carlo, Milan, Italy
2009 Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, California
Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Bielefeld, Germany
L&M Arts, New York, New York
2010 Galerie Proarta, Zurich, Switzerland
Helly Nahmad Gallery, New York, New York
Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia
2011-2012 Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland
Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jonathan Novak Contemporary, Los Angeles, California
Martin Lawrence Galleries, New York, New York
Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California
2013 Retrospective at Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, United States; travels to Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California, United States
2014 Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
Museum Jan van der Togt, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California
Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, California
Pasadena Museum of Art, Pasadena, California
Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke, Belgium
2015 Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Van de Weghe Fine Art, New York, New York
Tokyo Station Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2016 Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, North Carolina, United States
Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin, United States
Ma Galerie, Paris, France
Gallery Delaive, Art, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California, United States
2017 Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Sam Francis, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2018 University at Buffalo Art Gallery, State University of New York
Musée National De L'Orangerie, Paris, France
2019 Some of the artists I have worked for, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Prints I wish I had published, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, United Kingdom
The Haggin Museum, Stockton, California, United States
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida The Rose Art Museum, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansa City, Missouri, United States
2020 Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
David Benrimon Fine Art, New York, New York, United States
2022 Mixed Show, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2023 Sam Francis: Distilled, Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Pasadena, California, United States
Sam Francis and Japan: Emptiness overflowing, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, United States
Sam Francis, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2024 Americans in Paris, Artists working in postwar France 1946-1962, Grey Art Museum, New York University, New York, United States.
Selected Collections
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Centre Pompidou - Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, France
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas
Danubiana - Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia
Essl Museum, Vienna, Austria
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco (De Young/Palace of the Legion of Honor), San Francisco, California
Fondation Beyeler Museum, Basel, Switzerland
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy
Joseph H. Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California
Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Japan
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland
Kunstmuseum, Hannover, Germany
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Museum of Modern Art, Seoul, South Korea
Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Japan
Museum of Modern Art, Toyama, Japan
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Museum van der Togt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California
Ohara Museum of Art, Kurashiki, Japan
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Smithsonian Institution of American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
The New Tate Gallery, London
University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut
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Works
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Sam FrancisUntitled , 1987Aquatint -
Sam FrancisLe stagioni: La pioggia d'oro, 1984Etching and aquatint in colours
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Sam FrancisFloating Violet , 1975Acrylic on paper
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Sam FrancisUntitled (SF65-121), 1965Acrylic on paper
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Sam Francisis To Mako, c. 1966Acrylic on paper
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Sam FrancisComposition in Red, c. 1960Gouache on paper
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Sam FrancisUntitled (SF53-0001), c. 1953Ink on paper
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Sam FrancisUntitled, 1993Etching in colours on Rives BFK paper
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Sam FrancisUntitled, 1991Etching on paper
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Sam FrancisUntitled, 1987Lithograph with colour on Rives BFK paper
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Sam FrancisUntitled, 1986Lithograph on paper
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Sam FrancisUntitled (SF86-764), 1986Acrylic on BKF Rives paper
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Sam FrancisUntitled, 1985Etching on Rives BFK paper (roll)
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Sam FrancisUntitled, 1967Lithograph on paper
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Sam FrancisUntitled (SF64-203), 1964Acrylic on paper
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Sam FrancisUntitled (SF62-102), 1962Acrylic and gouache on paper
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Sam FrancisUntitled, 1957Gouache on paper
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Exhibitions
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Prints I wish I had published
11 January - 9 February 2019In 1969 Bernard Jacobson opened his first London gallery – a fourth-floor walk-up on Mount Street, Mayfair, dealing in prints by international stars, including Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg, as... -
Some of the artists I have worked for
10 September - 5 October 2019To end the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the gallery, we are delighted to introduce a selection of works by the artists that helped shaping its success. -
Sam Francis
20 April - 27 May 2017Bernard Jacobson Gallery is delighted to announce a new exhibition of masterworks by the renowned Californian artist, Sam Francis, widely considered one of the most important artists of the post-war... -
Mixed Show
10 - 30 November 2022Bernard Jacobson Gallery presents a mixed show of gallery artists. Artists include Ivor Abrahams, Georges Braque, Paul Cézanne, Robyn Denny, Sam Francis, John Hoyland, Henri Matisse, Bruce McLean, Henry Moore,... -
Bonheur de Vivre
18 March - 27 May 2016Bonheur de Vivre is the result of long-held desire by Bernard Jacobson to present work by some of the great artists who have particularly inspired and sustained his own love... -
Sam Francis: A Survey of Graphic Work
27 November 2015 - 30 January 2016Bernard Jacobson Gallery is delighted to announce an exhibition of limited edition prints by American Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis (1923-1994). The exhibition presents a survey of the artist's entire graphic... -
Sam Francis
5 June - 29 August 2014Bernard Jacobson Gallery is delighted to announce the opening of the exhibition Sam Francis, a collection of works by the renowned American artist. -
Sam Francis: Works on Paper
11 November - 9 December 2009Whilst Sam Francis made many works on canvas, it is arguably on paper - with its direct luminosity and partial absorbance of pigment - that his work really comes into...
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Art Fairs
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Art Basel | Hong Kong
17 - 20 May 2012 -
EXPO CHICAGO
20 - 23 September 2012 -
Art Basel | Basel
14 - 17 June 2012 -
Frieze Masters
17 - 20 October 2013 -
IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair
4 - 8 November 2015 -
London Original Print Fair
5 - 8 May 2016View Artsy Fair Booth -
Draw Art Fair London
17 - 19 May 2019View Artsy Fair Booth -
The Armory Show
8 - 11 March 2012
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Publications
