Sam Francis

SAM FRANCIS (San Mateo, California, 1923 - Santa Monica, California 1994).
S/t, 1990.
Lithograph on paper.
Work reproduced in the artist's online catalog raisonné.
Edition: BAT.
Signed in the lower left area.
Measurements: 118 x 76 cm.
In the late eighties and early nineties, Francis developed works of great chromatic intensity. His compositions of this period show floating stains, splashes and open structures that seem to expand beyond the limits of the canvas, generating a sensation of continuous energy and atmospheric movement. In 1990 he also delved into graphic work and printmaking techniques, exploring variations on organic forms and increasingly free chromatic rhythms. Although his health began to deteriorate, he maintained an intense and experimental production. The work of this time is often interpreted as a culmination of his search for light and painting understood as a physical and spiritual experience, where color functions almost as an autonomous emotional manifestation.
In 1990, Sam Francis was in a late and fully mature stage of his artistic career, characterized by a synthesis between spontaneous gesture, expansive color and a growing formal economy. During those years he worked between California and Santa Monica, deeply influenced by the tradition of abstract expressionism, but also by oriental calligraphy and Zen philosophy, interests that had marked his production since previous decades.
Sam Francis studied botany, medicine and psychology at the University of Berkeley between 1941 and 1943 and served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. After suffering a plane crash, he spent several years hospitalized, during which time he began painting thanks to the encouragement of David Parks. Later he returned to Berkeley to study art and art history between 1948 and 1950, initially influenced by the abstract expressionism of artists such as Rothko, Gorky and Still, he settled in Paris during the 1950s, where he began an important international projection with exhibitions in Europe and the United States. In 1963 he settled in Santa Monica, California, and developed some of his best known series, such as "Blue Balls", related to the physical pain derived from a kidney disease.
During the 1960s and 1970s he evolved towards more open compositions, with wide white spaces, splashes of color and network structures, also influenced by Jungian analysis and the study of dreams. In addition to painting, he excelled as a printmaker and publisher, founding The Lapis Press in 1984. His work is characterized by an intense exploration of color, light and space, making him one of the most relevant figures of late abstract expressionism.