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Untitled (SF63-031), 1963
Acrylic on paper
42 × 29 cm
Signed and dated on the verso: "Sam Francis 1963 La."
Provenance:
The Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo
Private collection, Paris
Private collection, Paris
1941 - 1943
Studied botany, philosophy and medicine at the University of California, Berkeley
1943 - 1947
As a soldier in the US Army Air Corps; severe spinal cord injury during a training flight and spinal cord tuberculosis. This was followed by several years in various hospitals. Francis began to paint during this phase. 1945 Transfer to a hospital in San Francisco. Through friends, David Park, a professor at the California School of Fine Arts, sought him out there, recognised his talent and taught him until 1947. Park taught Francis about original works by Miró, Klee and Picasso.
1948 - 1950
Studied painting and art history at the University of California, Berkeley; in Berkeley he met Muriel Goodwin. Francis is influenced by Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Mark Tobey and Hans Hofmann, among others
1950 - 1952
Divorces Vera Miller; at the end of the summer of 1950 he goes to Paris with Muriel Goodwin, where he meets Jean-Paul Riopelle in 1951; the two are inseparable; through Riopelle he comes into contact with the art critic and art historian Georges Duthuit, a son-in-law of Henri Matisse. Together with him, Patrick Waldberg and Samuel Beckett, he regularly frequented the Café du Dragon; through Riopelle, he also came into contact with Michel Tapié, who included Francis' works in the exhibitions "Signifiants de l'informel II" and "Un art autre" at the Studio Paul Facchetti (Paris) in 1952. The "White Paintings" series was created during these years. 1952 First solo exhibition at the Galerie du Dragon, organised by Riopelle; Francis meets Pontus Hulten; stays in the south of France; travels to Italy, visits the Venice Biennale and meets Duthuit, through whom he discovers Byzantine art for himself
1953/54
Sam Francis is fascinated by Monet's water lilies; another stay in the south of France; influenced by the southern light and the fascination of Byzantine art, colour begins to dominate Francis' work; through Tapié, contact and friendship with Arnold Rüdlinger and Eberhard W. Kornfeld in 1954. Rüdlinger, director of the Kunsthalle Bern at the time, included works by the artist in the exhibition "Tendances actuelles de l'École de Paris III". Kornfeld exhibited Francis regularly in his gallery from 1957 onwards. Influenced by southern light and Byzantine art, colour began to dominate Francis' work in 1953 (e.g. "Big Red", 1953).
1955
Solo exhibition at the Galerie Rive Droite, Paris
1956
First solo exhibition in the USA: Francis' work is shown at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York City; purchase of a work ("Red an Black") by Francis by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. First participation in a museum group exhibition in the USA: "Twelve Americans", Museum of Modern Art, New York City. Francis is commissioned by Rüdlinger to create a large-format triptych for the staircase of the Kunsthalle Basel and by Sofu Teshigahara, director of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana, Tokyo, to create a mural. Acquaintance and friendship with Franz Meyer Jr. and Franz Meyer Sr. who buys seven works on canvas and several watercolours from Francis.
1957
Francis gives up his flat in Paris, but keeps his studio and travels to New York, Mexico, Los Angeles and then to Japan for the first time; in Tokyo, he creates the mural for the Sogetsu School of Ikebana (the so-called "Tokyo Mural"). Francis has several exhibitions in Japan, he is fascinated by the Japanese way of life and art, meets the gallery owner Kusuo Shimizu and artists, arranged by friendly Japanese painter colleagues; returns to Europe via Hong Kong, Thailand, India.
1958
Returns to Paris via Rome, where he completes the murals for the Kunsthalle Basel in his studio ("Basel Mural I-III"); after their presentation in Basel, the purchase is rejected. At the end of September, travels to the USA via Rome, Saigon and Tokyo; meets the Japanese painter Teruko Yokoi in New York; divorces Muriel Goodwin.
1959
Lives with his father in San Mateo in January and early February; from there he organises his first solo museum exhibition in the west of the USA together with Martha Jackson; from February in New York; creates a mural for the Chase Manhattan Bank; first solo exhibition in an art association in Germany (Düsseldorf); participates in documenta II in Kassel; rents a studio in New York.
At the end of the year, begins the "Blue Balls" series (until 1963).
1960
Returns to Paris (together with his 3rd wife, Teruko Yokoi); commutes back and forth between the cities of Paris, Bern and Tokyo; acquaintance and friendship with Walasse Ting.
Blue becomes his preferred colour.
1961
Re-illness with tuberculosis; treatment in a hospital in Bern (until mid-November); paints watercolours and draws; reads works by Rainer Maria Rilke; Francis leaves Europe and returns to the USA; he rents a house in Montecito at the end of December 1961, where he recovers from his illness over the following 8 months
1962
Santa Monica, California, becomes his main residence and studio location; he retains his studios in Paris, Bern, Tokyo and New York.
1963 - 1966
Sam Francis becomes increasingly interested in lithography; spends most of his time in Japan from 1964; takes part in documenta III in Kassel in 1964; marries Japanese artist Mako Idemitsu in 1965 (divorces in 1980); Sky Painting Performance in Japan in 1966.
1968 - 1970
Francis paints the 8 x 12 metre painting "Berlin Red" for the Nationalgalerie, Berlin
1970
Founds the "Litho Shop" in Santa Monica to be able to print and publish his lithographs himself
1973/74
Lives and paints mainly in Tokyo, Japan
1975 - 1979
The first important monograph on Sam Francis is published, written by Peter Selz; monotypes: the collaboration with Garner Tullis begins.
1983
Mural for San Francisco International Airport
1984
Meets the English artist Margaret Smith in Tokyo, whom he marries in 1986; founds "The Lapis Press" with Jack Stauffacher and Jan Butterfield
1985 - 1989
Acquires further studios, including one in Palo Alto, Northern California, a residence in Paris (1985) and in Venice, California (1987). He continues to travel extensively and works in his various studios and also paints in Manchester, England (1989); he creates murals for the Wattis Rotunda of the San Francisco Museum of Art (1986) and the Opera National, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels
1990 - 1994
Major retrospective at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn; the monumental painting "Dynamic Symmetry" (1978) is hung in the plenary hall of the German Bundestag in Bonn; donation (1993) of 10 paintings to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, accompanied by an exhibition in 1994
04.11.1994
Sam Francis dies in Santa Monica
1962
"Grand Prix", Third International Biennial Exhibition of Prints, Tokio, Japan
1968
"Ehrendoktor", University of California, Berkeley, USA
1983
"Ernennung zum Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres", France
1993
"Distinguished Alumnus Award", University of California, Berkeley, USA
1952
Galerie du Dragon, Paris, France
1955
Galerie Rive Droite, Paris, France
1956
Galerie Rive Droite, Paris, France
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York City, USA
Zoe Dusanne Gallery, Seatle, USA
1957
Gimpel Fils, London, Great Britain
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York City, USA
1958
Galerie Alfred Schmela, Düsseldorf, Germany
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York City, USA
1959
Pasadena Art Museum; San Francisco Museum of Art; Seattle Art Museum, USA
Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
"Sam Francis", Galerie Klipstein & Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland
1960
"Sam Francis", Kunsthalle Bern; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Switzerland
Galerie Klipstein & Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland
1961
Galerie Jacques Dubourg, Paris, France
1963
Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany
1966
"Sam Francis", Galerie Kornfeld und Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland
1967
"Sam Francis . A retrospective exhibition", The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; University Art Museum, Berkeley, California, USA
"Sam Francis Drawings and Lithographs", San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco; University of California, Los Angeles, USA
1968
"Sam Francis", Kunsthalle Basel; Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam,
"Sam Francis", Centre national d'Art contemporain, Paris, France
1970
Martha Jackson Gallery, New Yotk City, USA
1972
"Sam Francis: paintings 1942-1972", Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C. u.a., USA
1974
Idemitsu Art Museum, Tokio, Japan
1975
Galerie Kornfeld, Zürich, Switzerland
1978
"Sam Francis: peintures récentes 1976/1978", Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, France
1979
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1980
"Sam Francis: The Fifties", The Phillips Collection, Washington, USA
1986
Pavillion des Art, Paris; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaeck (weitere Station in Tokio),
1987
Manni Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
1988
"Sam Francis: Four Decades. Paintings on Paper", Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, Great Britain
"Sam Francis. Peinture sur papier 1947-1988", Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
1991
"Sam Francis: Werke der Jahre 1945-1990. Eine Retrospektive", Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland
"Sam Francis Blue Balls", Gargosian Gallery, New York City, USA
1993
"Sam Francis", Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles u.a.,
1995
"Sam Francis: The Shadow of Colors", Kunstverein Ludwigsburg; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk (Dänemark); Kunstslgn. Chemnitz,
"Sam Francis, les années parisiennes: 1951-1961", Galerie National du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France
"The Last Paintings of Sam Francis", The Los Angeles Country Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
1996
Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1999
"Sam Francis: paintings 1947-1990", Museum of Contemporary Art (weitere Stationen in Schweden, Spanien u. Italien), Los Angeles, USA
2002
Idemitsu Museum, Tokio (weitere Stationen in Japan), Japan
2003
Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2006
"Sam Francis und Bern", Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
2009
Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Bielefeld, Germany
Bernard Jacobsen Gallery, London,
2010
Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany
2012
Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2013
"Sam Francis, Five decades of abstract expressionism from Californien collections", Pasadena Museum of California Art, Kalifornien; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, Kalifornien, USA
2020
"Sam Francis and Japan: Emptiness Overflowing", Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA