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SAM FRANCIS
BORN: 1923, San Mateo, California
DIED: 1994, Santa Monica, California
OVERVIEW
Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California in 1923, and studied medicine at The University of California at Berkeley. He entered the Army Air Corps in 1943, and suffered an injury that required a lengthy recuperation during which Francis took up painting. He then studied art at the San Francisco Art Institute and the University of California at Berkeley. Francis lived in Paris in the 1950’s and achieved his first success in France. After returning to the United States to spend one year in New York City he settled in Santa Monica, California, in 1961. Francis traveled widely, exhibiting frequently in Europe and particularly in Japan where he achieved immense celebrity.
Sometimes considered a second-generation Abstract Expressionist, Francis’ work of the 1950’s and 1960’s was abstract, luminous and painterly rather than gestural. Influenced by the works of Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still, Francis’ signature paintings of the early 1950’s are overlays of serial but asymmetrical biomorphic forms saturated with color. In the mid-1950’s, Francis began to paint fields of various sized clusters of cell-like shapes usually in blue, yellow, and red on a white ground. By the late 1950’s Francis concentrated on large mural sized works dominated by white and bordered by colorful clusters of forms. This remained his vocabulary throughout his career but by the 1970’s and 1980’s a greater degree of structure emerged. In addition to monumental and easel-size paintings he produced a significant oeuvre of works on paper and prints.
SELECTED CHRONOLOGY
1950-1958
Lives and works primarily in Paris, France with travels to Mexico, Japan, Europe, and USA.
Time Magazine describes Francis as "the hottest American painter in Paris these days."
1957
Travels to Japan and paints a mural for the Sogetsu School, Tokyo, Japan. Solo exhibition at Gimpel Fils, Ltd., London, England.
1959
Rents additional studio in NYC and begins work on Chase Manhattan Bank mural. Solo exhibitions at Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, CA that travels to San Francisco Museum of Art, CA; Seattle Art Museum, Washington.
1960-1966
Lives and works in Bern, Switzerland during another period of hospitalization. Solo exhibition at Kunsthalle, Bern that travels to Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Solo exhibitions at Minami Gallery, Tokyo; Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern; Galerie Benador, Zuerich, Switzerland. Exhibition at Documenta III, Kassel, Germany where Basel Mural panels are shown.
1967
Solo shows at Pierre Matisse Gallery, NYC. Creates a performance "snow painting" in Naibara, Japan. Retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas that travels to University Art Museum, Berkeley, and San Francisco Museum of Art, CA.
1968
Receives honorary Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley. Solo exhibitions at museums: Centre National d' Art Contemporain, Paris; Kunsthalle, Basel, Switzerland; and Minami Gallery, Tokyo.
1969-1972
Creates mural for National Gallery of Art, Berlin, Germany. Solo exhibitions at Andre Emmerich Gallery, NYC; Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Solo exhibition at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA Retrospective exhibition at Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York that travels to Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Texas; Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA. Solo exhibition at Stanford University Museum of Art.
1973-1974
Lives and works primarily in Tokyo studios. Solo exhibitions at Idemitsu Art Museum, Tokyo; Minami Gallery, Tokyo.
1975-1977
Solo exhibitions at Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Andre Emmerich Gallery, NYC; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, Illinois; Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern
1977-1978
Solo exhibition at Louisiana Museum of Art, Humlebaek, Denmark with portions of exhibition that travels to Centre Pompidou, Paris; Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, and Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel.
1979
Retrospective exhibition of works on paper at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts that travels to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Korea, Japan under the U.S. International Communication Agency.
1980
Solo exhibitions at museums: Abbaye de Senanque, Gordes, France; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Riko Mizuno Gallery and James Corcoran Galleries, Los Angeles; Mural commissions at Weinstock's Department Store, Sacramento, CA and General Services Administration (GSA, Washington, D.C.) for building in Anchorage, Alaska. Elected to Board of Trustees at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
1982
Solo exhibitions at Andre Emmerich Gallery, NYC; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago.
1983
Completion of mural for San Francisco Airport. Solo exhibitions at Andre Emmerich Gallery, NYC; Galerie Kornfeld, Bern; Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto; Fondation Maeght, St. Paul, France; Studio Marconi, Milan, Italy; Colorado State University, Colorado; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo and a traveling survey of works on paper through the Art Museum Association of America. Receives prestigious "Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" from France.
1985
Solo exhibitions at Galerie Kornfeld, Bern; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago. Completion of mural for the San Francisco Museum of Art.
1986
Solo exhibitions at Andre Emmerich Gallery, NYC; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo. Receives commission to paint ceiling mural for the Opera National, Theatre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels, Belgium.
1987
Solo exhibitions at Knoedler Gallery London; Andre Emmerich Gallery, NYC; Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara; Heland Thorden Wetterling Galleries, Stockholm, Sweden
1988
Solo exhibitions at Andre Emmerich Gallery, NYC; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Nantenshi gallery, Tokyo; Galerie de Seoul, South Korea. Major exhibition travels through Japan at Toyama Museum, Toyama; The Museum of Modern Art, Seibu Takanawa, Karuizawa; The Museum of Modern Art, Shiga; Ohara Museum of Art; Murashiki, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo.
1990
Solo exhibitions at Associated American Artists, NYC; Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Heland Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm; Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
1991
Forty-year retrospective at Galerie Kornfeld, Bern. Solo exhibitions at Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles; Gagosian Gallery, NYC; Centre Regional d'Art Contemporain Midi-Pyrenees, Toulouse-Labege, France
1993
Retrospective exhibition at Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn. Solo exhibitions at Galerie Pudelko, Bonn; Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Venice, CA; Michel Cohen Gallery, NYC; Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles; Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
Major painting is commissioned for the German Parliament building, Bonn.
Donation of ten paintings to The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles.
1994
Solo exhibitions at Long Fine Art, NYC; Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam; Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Venice, CA; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Galerie Proarta, Zurich; Andre Emmerich Gallery, NYC; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago; University Art Museum, University of CA, Berkeley; Galerie Kornfeld, Bern
Receives the "Distinguished Alumnus Award" from University of CA, Berkeley.
1995
Exhibition of "The Last Paintings of Sam Francis," (painted June-August 1994) at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Solo exhibitions at Andre Emmerich Gallery, NYC; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles; Grunwald/UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Kunstverein Ludwigsberg, Frankfurt, Germany; exhibition at the Jeu de Paume Museum, Paris reunites the three "Basel Mural" panels.
1997
Solo exhibitions at Frederick M. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA that travels in expanded form to Fundacion Caja de Madrid, Spain; Andre Emmerich Gallery, NYC; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles; Museo d'Arte, Mendrisio, Switzerland
1996
Solo exhibitions at Sogetsu Art Museum, Tokyo; Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam; Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA; Gallery Guy Pieters, Knokke, Belgium; Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin
1999
Solo exhibitions at Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles; Galleri Faurschou, Copenhagen, Denmark; Ikon, Santa Monica; Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, Germany
1999-2001
Major retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles travels to: The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas; Konsthall Malmoe, Sweden; the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; Galleria Communale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, Italy.
2000
Solo exhibitions at Galleri GKM Siwert Bergstroem, Malmoe, Sweden; Richard Gray Gallery, NYC and Chicago, Illinois; Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam; Lawrence Rubin Greenberg Van Doren Fine Art, NYC; Galleria il Gabbiano, Rome, Italy; Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Osaka and Tokyo
2001
Solo exhibitions at Galerie Guy Pieters, Saint-Paul de Vence, France; Alan Cristea Gallery, London; Galerie Proarta, Zuerich; Lawing Gallery, Houston, TX
2002-2003
Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo organizes major exhibition from their collection that travels to six museums in Japan. Solo exhibition at Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos.
2003
Solo exhibitions at Musee d'Art et d'histoire, Freiburg, Switzerland; Artemis Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, NYC; Broadbent Gallery/Robert Sandelson Galleries, London
2004-2005
Major retrospective exhibition at Museum Jan van der Togt, Amstelveen, The Netherlands (organized with Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam).
2005
Solo exhibitions at Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles; Movimento Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy; Robert Sandelson Gallery, London; American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich. Documentary archives of the artist's estate acquired by the John Paul Getty Art Museum Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA.
2006
Solo exhibitions at Kunstmuseum, Bern, Switzerland; Galerie Flintholm, Verster Skerninge, Denmark; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France.
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
The Frick Collection, New York, NY
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Menil Collection, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo, NY
Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
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