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Sam Francis
About the artist...
Sam Francis (1923-1994) was born in San Mateo in
California. He studied at the University of California and began
painting in 1946, while recovering from spinal tuberculosis. From
1950 to 1958 he lived in Paris, and then spent time in New York,
painting the Chase Manhattan mural. In 1961 he developed tuberculosis
of the kidneys in Tokyo, recovered in Bern and then based himself
in California.
During his career he travelled extensively throughout Europe and
Japan, always returning to his native California. He exhibited widely
throughout the world, in New York with Martha Jackson, the Pierre
Matisse and latterly with Andre Emmerich. In London he exhibited
with Gimpel Fils and then with Bernard Jacobson Gallery.
In 1990 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died on the 4th November
1994. His work is to be found in major museums and collections throughout
the world. He is widely regarded as one of the most important representatives
of Abstract Expressionism
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.
Biography
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS |
| 2003 |
Broadbent, London; Robert Saldelson Gallery, London |
| 2001 |
Broadbent, London |
| 1996 |
Gallerie Delaive; Gallerie Haas, Berlin; Stadtische Kunstsammlungen,
Chemnitz |
| 1995 |
One man exhibitions, Gallerie wild, Frankfurt; Manny Silvermann
Gallery; Park Gallery; Soeul; Gallerie National du Jeu de Paume,
Paris; Memorial exhibition at Andre Emmerich Gallery; Kunstverein,
Ludwigsburg; Louisiana Museum of Contemporary art |
| 1994 |
One man exhibitions, Gallery Delaive; Museum van der Togt;
Long Fine Art, NY; Bobby Greenfield Fine Art; Gallerie Baukunst,
Cologne; Daco-Verlag, Stuttgart |
| 1993 |
One man exhibitions, Galery Pudelko; Bobby Greenfield Fine
Art, Venice, CA; Michele Cohen Gallery, NY; Ochi Gallery, Ketchum,
ID; Manny Silvermann Gallery; Museum of Contemporary Art, LA |
| 1991 |
One man exhibitions, Gallerie Jean Fournier, James Cochoran
Gallery, LA; Angeles Gallery; Associated American Artists (prints);
Gagosian Gallery, NY; Centre Regional d'Art Contemporarian Midi-Pyrenees,
Toulouse-Labege, France |
| 1990 |
One man shows, Associated American Artists, NY (prints); Gallery
Delaive, Amsterdam; Helland Wetterling Gallery; Ogawa Art Foundation,
Tokyo (monotypes); Ochi Gallery, Sun Valley; Talbot Rice Gallery,
NY; Smith-Andersen Gallery (prints) |
| 1989 |
One man shows, Andre Emmerich Gallery, Galerie Jean Fournier;
Bernard Jacobsen Gallery, London, Sun Valley Center Gallery,
Idaho; Linda Farris Gallery, Seattle; Cantor/Lemberg Gallery,
Birmingham; MI and Knoedler Gallery, London |
| 1988 |
One man shows, Andre Emmerich Gallery; Galerie Jean Fournier;
Nantenshi Gallery; Smith-Andersen Gallery; Greenberg Gallery,
St Louis; MO and Galerie de Seoul, Korea |
1987 |
One-man shows, Knoedler Gallery, London; Andre Emmerich Gallery;
Pamela Auchincloss Gallery; Helend Thorden Wetterling Galleries,
Stockholm; G. Dalsheimer Gallery, Baltimore; Galeria Eude, Barcelona;
Manny Silvermann Gallery, LA; Galerie Pudelko, Bonn, W.Germany;
Lever/Meyerson Gallery,NY |
| 1986 |
One-man shows, Andre Emmerich Gallery; Galerie Jean Fournier;
Nantenshi Gallery; Angles Gallery, Santa Monica; Le Maire de
Paris; Pamela Auchincloss, Santa Barbara; Michael Dunev fine
Arts, San Francisco |
| 1985 |
One-man shows, Gallery Kornfield; Galerie Jean Fournier; Nanteshi
Gallery, Tokyo; Richard Gray Gallery, Hokin Gallery, Bay Harbour
Isle |
| 1984 |
One-man shows, Andre Emmerich Gallery, Pamela Auchincloss
Gallery, Santa Barbara, Brooke Alexander inc; Cantor/Lemberg
Gallery, Michigan; Robert Elkon Gallery, NY; Thomas Babeor Gallery,
La Jolla, CA; Knoedler Gallery, London; Gemini G.E.L., LA; Stephen
Wirtz Gallery, San Fransisco |
| 1983 |
One-man shows, Andre Emmerich Gallery; Galerie Kornfeld, Bern;
Smith-Andersen Gallery; Fondation Maeght, St Paul, France; Studio
Marconi, Milan; Colorado State University, Gallerie Jean Fournier;
Art Attack Gallery, Idaho; John Berggruen Gallery, San Fransisco;
Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo |
| 1982 |
One-man show, Andre Emmerich Gallery; Nanteshi Galelry, Tokyo
Monotype exhibition, Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago |
| 1981 |
One-man show, Andre Emmerich Gallery; Ace Gallery, Los Angles;
Ruth Schaffner Gallery, Santa Barbara; The Faith and Charity
in Hope Gallery, Idaho |
| 1980 |
One-man shows, Riko Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles; James Corocoran
Gallery, Los Angeles; Smith-Andersen Gallery |
| 1979 |
One-man show, Galerie Jean Fournier; Andre Emmerich Gallery;
Brook Alexander inc, New York |
| 1978 |
One-man show, Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles |
| 1955-1977 |
One-man shows, Nicholas Wilder Gallery; Galerie Jean Fournier,
Paris; Andre Emmirich Gallery; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago;
Kornfield und Klipstein; Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto,
California |
| 1974 |
One-man show, Minami Gallery |
| 1969-1972 |
One-man shows, Andre Emmerich Gallery; Nicholas Wilder Gallery,
Los Angeles |
| 1968 |
One-man show at Miami Gallery |
| 1967 |
One-man show, Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York |
| 1961-1964 |
One-man shows at Minami Gallery, Tokyo; Kornfield und Klipstein;
and Gallery Benador |
| 1962 |
One-man show at Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara |
| 1952-1958 |
One-man shows at Gimpel Fils; Kornfield und Klipstein, Bern;
Martha Jackson Gallery |
| 1957 |
One-man show at Gimple Fils, London |
| 1956 |
One-man show, Galerie Rive Droite; Martha Jackson Gallery,
New York |
| 1955 |
One-man show, Galerie Rive Droite, Paris |
| 1952 |
One-man show Galerie Nina Dausset, Paris |
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| GROUP EXHIBITIONS |
| 2003 |
How Heavy is Black?, Broadbent, London |
| 2002 |
Group Show, Broadbent, London |
| 1993 |
Works from 1950-60, Galelrie Delaive; |
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Retrospective: Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland, Bonn |
| 1992 |
Galerie Papierski, Paris; Museum van der Togt, Amstelveen
(organised by Gallery Delaive); Kukje Gallery, Soeul |
| 1991 |
Forty retrospective at Galerie Kornfeld, Bern |
| 1982 |
Monotype exhibition, Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago |
| 1980 |
Abbaye de Senanque, Gordes, France |
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Monotypes, Los angeles County Museum of Art. |
| 1979 |
Retrospective exhibition of works on paper, Institute of Contemporary
Art, Boston; which later travelled to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Manila,
Korea, and Japan under the U.S International Communication Agency |
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Art in Progress, Israel Museum, Jerusalem |
| 1977 |
Art in Progress exhibition, Louisiana Museum of art
at Humlebaek, Denmark; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Liljevalchs Konsthall,
Stockholm |
| 1974 |
Exhibition at the Idetmitsu Art Museum, Tokyo |
| 1972 |
Retrospective exhibition, Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo,
New York; Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C; Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York; Dallas Museum of Fine arts, Texas; Oakland
Museum of Art. Exhibition at the Stamford University Museum
of Art |
| 1970 |
Exhibition at Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Martha Jackson
Gallery; Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles |
| 1968 |
Exhibition at Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Paris; Kunsthalle,
Basel |
| 1967 |
Exhibition at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; University Art
Museum, Berkley; San Fransisco Museum of Art |
| 1961-1964 |
Major exhibition at Documenta III, Kassel, Germany |
| 1961 |
Show at Kunsthalle, Berne; Moderna Museet, Stockolm |
| 1959 |
Exhibition at Passadena Art Museum; San Fransisco Museum of
Art; Seattle Art Museum |
| 1956 |
12 Americans show at the Museum of Modern Art, New
York |
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