Artist: Sam Francis (1923 - 1994)
Nationality: American
Movement: Abstract Expressionism
Media: Painting
Influences:

Biography:
Sam Francis was serving in the US Army Air Corps when he injured his spine during a plane crash. He took up painting in 1944 while recovering in the hospital. Francis moved to Paris in 1950 and studied under Leger. The friends he met, most of who were members of the Art Informel movement, influenced his style. He visited Japan several times and his thin drip technique is reminiscent of Japanese contemplative art. Francis returned to his home state, California, in 1961, eventually settling in Santa Monica. His work took on a Minimalist attitude upon his return to the States. He also produced murals, watercolors, lithographs, and some sculptures.

Artworks in Museum Collections: (40)
Click the artwork titles below to see actual examples of artwork or works of art relevant to works by Sam Francis.

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John Smibert - Mrs. Francis Brinley and Her Son Francis 1729 oil on canvas The Metropolitan Museum of Art American
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Francis Chantrey - Francis Homer 1820 marble Ackland Art Museum British
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Francis Seymour Haden, Portrait of Francis Seymour Haden (Self-Portrait with etching equipment), 1862
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Francis J. Rigney, Cliffs near Dublin, 1906
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Jacques-Emile Blanche - Francis Poictevin 1887 oil on canvas The National Gallery, London French
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Charles Willson Peale - Mrs. Francis Bailey 1791 oil on canvas Cincinnati Art Museum American
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Ambrose McEvoy - Mrs. Francis Howard c. 1916-1918 oil on canvas National Gallery of Art British
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Bernardo Strozzi - St. Francis in Ecstasy c. 1618-20 oil on canvas Philbrook Museum of Art Italian
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John Smibert - Francis Brinley 1729 oil on canvas The Metropolitan Museum of Art American
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Thomas Sully - Francis Hopkinson 1834 oil on canvas National Gallery of Art American
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Giovanni Bellini - St. Francis in the Desert c. 1480 tempera and oil on c The Frick Collection Italian
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Daniel Huntington - Dr. John W. Francis 1857 oil on canvas Cleveland Museum of Art American
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Sam Francis, Self-Portrait3, 1982
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Sam Francis, Self-Portrait, 1982
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Sam Francis, Self-Portrait- SF 04, 1973
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Sam Francis, Untitled, 1963
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Sam Francis, Untitled, 1982
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Sam Francis, Pivot, 1981
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Sam Francis, Untitled, 1982
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Sam Francis, Tarflower, 1981
The Metropolitan Museum of Art -
Mrs. Francis Brinley and Her Son Francis, 1729 John Smibert (Scottish, 1688-1751)AmericanOil on canvas; 50
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Sam Francis, Untitled, 1982
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Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli - The Ecstacy of Saint Francis c. 1615 oil on canvas Los Angeles County Museum of Art Italian
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Ludovico Carracci - The Vision of Saint Francis c. 1583-1586 oil on canvas The National Gallery, London Italian
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Sam Francis, Self-Portrait II, 1982
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Sam Francis, Untitled, 1980
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Sam Francis, Untitled, 1980
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Sam Francis, Spleen (Red), 1971
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Sam Francis, A Fixed Course of Changes #3, 1977
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Sam Francis, Tokyo mon amour, 1965
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Sam Francis, Self-Portrait IV, 1982
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Joseph Whiting Stock - Mary and Francis Wilcox 1845 oil on canvas National Gallery of Art American
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Charles Willson Peale - Portrait of Mr. Francis Bailey 1791 oil on canvas Cincinnati Art Museum American
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Pieter Cristoffel Wonder - Henry Francis Playter c. 1837 oil on wood panel Cleveland Museum of Art Dutch
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Sam Francis, Untitled, 1958
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J. Francis Murphy, The Pasture Lot, 1895
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Francis Halpen, Portrait of a man, 1783
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Vicente Carduco - St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata c. 1610-30 oil on canvas Ackland Art Museum Spanish
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Hugh Barron - Francis Page of Newbury c. 1760 oil on canvas The Fitzwilliam Museum British
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Abraham Jansz. Van Diepenbeeck - The Last Communion of St Francis of Assisi n.d. oil on panel The Fitzwilliam Museum Flemish

Artnews Articles and Exhibition Information: (30)
Click on any of the links below to read about artnews or exhibitions related to Francis

Menil Collection: SAM FRANCIS: PAINTINGS 1947-1990
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Artists' Musuem: Francis Latreille: Field of Dreams
Francis Latreille has been published in Life, Time, Newsweek and Geo and he is currently working on his second book. Since 1977 Francis has presented his primitive works in Europe, Asia and North America in over thirty exhibitions. His work has b...
Museum Jan van der Togt: Sam Francis
Sam Francis was a citizen of the world who lived for art. American by birth, he has spend a large part of his live in Europe (Paris and Bern), Tokyo and New York. Some of his paintings have been partly created in Paris, worked on in New York, and ...
Ohio Art League: Francis Schanberger: The Close-up World of Dr. Frangst
Both their desks are in a constant state of chaos: covered with stacks of photographs, files, equipment and photographic debris, heaped like autumn leaves. Both must focus so intently on their research that the edges of their vision blur into vign...
Mary Anderson Center for the Arts: Call for Art Educators: New Fellowships Available for Art Educators
Deadline for both fellowships is Jan. 2, 2006. Residencies need to be completed by Oct. 31, 2006. For an application, please download the form at www.maryandersoncenter.org or phone 812-923-4602. The fe...
Sheffield Galleries and Museum Trust, Millenium Galleries: Surveying of the Career of Francis Bacon
The exhibition features the Tate's collection of Bacon paintings and drawings and is complemented by selected works from other ...
Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth: Francis Bacon: A Retrospective Exhibition
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National Gallery of Art: An American Vision: Henry Francis du Pont's Winterthur Museum
This installation will present more than 300 masterpieces from Winterthur's collection of 85,000 objects, including furniture, textiles, pa...
South Australian Museum: Eye to Eye: Photographs of Local Adelaide Anthropologist Francis Edgar Williams
His unique relationship with the people of Papua is illustrated in drawings of the objects that interested him and the hundreds of photographs which form the basis of this exhibition. Williams' once said about his photographs, I go down to get ph...
Irish Museum of Modern Art: The Barry Joule Archive - Works on Paper attributed to Francis Bacon
The imagery of the 'X-Album' contributes to a wider critical understanding of the themes that Francis Bacon developed in his major paintings. The exhibition also contains a substantial sele...
Karpio Facchini Gallery: Reality: Francis Acea, Solo Show
A well known work for this period is "taxi-limosina" (1998), a stretched 10 meters long car, made out of three Lada cars welded together, or "Antennas: network transmission" (1998), a hundred and forty four antennas installed upside down. Aft...
Hugh Lane Gallery: Francis Bacon's 7 Reece Mews Studio Reconstructed
Donated by Bacon’s heir John Edwards, the reconstructed studio was formally opened by The Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ald Maurice Ahern on 23 May 2001. This remarkable cultural donation is the most important received by the Gallery since it ...
Art Gallery of Ontario: In Light: Francis Alys
The Art Gallery of Ontario is proud to highlight the importance of video art. Beginning April 6, 2002 and running until April 4, 2004, an exhibition series entitled In Light will present video installations by eight contemporary artists. This two-...
Artangel: Francis Al˙s: Seven Walks
Observing and intervening in this huge open-air studio, Al˙s maps the city, staging elusive scenarios and making poetic films and animations. His work can be as monumental as moving an immense sand dune (a project he undertook with a thousand peop...
Witte de With Center for Contemportary Art: Squatters 2: Space in Rotterdam and Porto
Runa Islam (UK) emphasizes the local differences in a side by side screening of two films based on the same script but shot in the resp...
Dideh Iranian Fine Art: Iran on the Web
Mr. Nami Petgar one of the exhibiting Iranian painter describes it: It is as if a small window has been opened to my studio and a selection of my works has been put on display ...
Metropolitan Museum of Art: John Singer Sargent Beyond the Portrait Studio: Paintings, Drawings, and Watercolors from the Collection
These works illuminate episodes in Sargent's career, early to late, as he studied and sought inspiration outside the portrait stu...
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag: Francis Bacon
The paintings on view will include the famous series of Popes, his works based on Van Gogh, portraits of his friend and companion George Dyer and a large number of monumental triptychs, including one - Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Cr...
Grosvenor Gallery: Francis Newton Souza
Souza was born in the Portuguese colony of Goa in 1924 into a strict Roman Catholic family. His upbringing was marked by what he saw as the conflict between the erotic Indian art surrounding him, and the repressive teachings of the Catholic Church...
Experimental Art Foundation: HETEROGENEOUS LOVES: Work by 8 artists from Canada, the UK and USA
Artists included in the exhibiton are:
Jose Alexander Hidalgo
Don Bury
Kevin Francis Gray
Karolyn Hatton
Robert Harper Jones
Eva Rothschild
Stewart R. Simons
Clare Woods...
Albright-Knox Art Gallery: Photographs of Artists
Don't miss this opportunity to come face to face with artists represented in the Gallery's collection such as Henri...
Detroit Institute of Art: The Etching Revival in Europe: Late-Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth-Century French and British Prints
Examples of their work and that of many artists on both sides of the English Channel such as Charles Meryon, Edouard Manet, Jean François Millet, and Frank Brangwyn are part of this exhibition of more than 120 prints from the DIA collection. ...
Mary Anderson Center - An Artist Colony: Call for Artists: Fellowship Opportunities Available
Application guidelines may be attained by calling (812) 923-8602, maca@iglou.com, or www.maryandersoncenter.org. The following 2004/2005 fellowships are available: MARY FOOTE MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIP offers a 30 day stay for a visual artist. ...
Minneapolis Institute of Arts: Restoring a Masterpiece: Castiglione Conservation Project
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Marlborough Gallery: Francis Bacon: Paintings
Marlborough’s show will consist of nine works as follows: three quintessential triptychs dating from 1970, 1983 and 1986-87, each panel measuring 78 x 58 inches; a rare 1957 painting of a pope, measuring 60 x 46 1/2 inches; Study for Self Portr...
Hoxton Distillery: pending emotion: Six Artists from London and Germany
The idea of presentation of objects and their collection is skipped in favour of the dramatic montage.    Curator, Jens Kabisch features work by Norman Hogg, Adeline Mannarini, Francis Summers, Ursula Ponn and Doris Lasch. IMAGE:
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The Dahesh Museum: Revealing the Holy Land: The Photographic Exploration of Palestine
The images include tightly composed details of architectural assemblies that record layers of occupation of an ancient city, panoramas of the Sinai desert that defy any understanding of scale, iconic views of Jerusalem sought out by visitors today...
Plains Art Museum: Theodore Waddell: A Retrospective, 1960-2000
Theodore Waddell has long been recognized as one of Montana's most important contemporary artists - one who has played a significant role in the development of late modernism in Montana and the West. His intimate relationship to the land and peop...
Scottish National Portrait Gallery: The King over the Water: The Life of Prince James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart was a king without a throne: the uncrowned heir of King James VII and II. His birth in 1688 plunged Britain into crisis for it seemed inevitable that the infant Prince would be brought up a Roman Catholic and would wan...
The Dahesh Museum: Last Chance! Revealing the Holy Land: The Photographic Exploration of Palestine
The images include tightly composed details of architectural assemblies that record layers of occupation of an ancient city, panoramas of the Sinai desert that defy any understanding of scale, iconic views of Jerusalem sought out by visitors today...

Further Artwork and Information:

Sam Francis Online
Sam Francis Weekly Column
VDARE -- Sam Francis Articles
Sam Francis posters
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Sam Francis Art Images
HighBeam Research: Library Search: Results
Amazon.com: Books: Sam Francis: The Shadow of Colors
Francis Sam Poster

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