Sam Francis
American
(San Mateo, California, 1923 - 1994)
Samuel Lewis Francis was born in 1923 in San Mateo, California. Growing up, his parents, Samuel Francis, a mathematics professor, and Elizabeth Lewis, an accomplished pianist and French teacher encouraged strong cultural values. (1) He and his younger brother George (born 1926) were exposed to language, music, and literature, which had a lasting influence although there was not a specific influence on visual arts. (In fact, Francis did not visit a museum until he was in his twenties). At the age of twelve, Francis’ mother died, and a few years later his father married Virginia Anderson, with whom Francis developed a close relationship.
In 1941, Francis began studies at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring first in botany and later switching to psychology and medicine. He abandoned his coursework to join the Army Air Corps Reserves in 1942 as a fighter pilot during World War II. While Francis did not see battle in Europe, he unfortunately sustained serious injuries. During a training flight in Tucson, Arizona in 1944, Francis’ plane ran out of fuel, forcing an emergency landing during which his spine became severely compressed. While a severe injury in itself, this incident triggered previously undiagnosed spinal tuberculosis causing Francis to spend much time in and out of hospitals over the next few years. In 1945, he underwent surgery and continued fighting tuberculosis while wearing a full body cast. His recovery was slow and he spent the next few years in the hospital, depressed over his confinement and the loss of his military career.
Francis’ movement was limited; initially, he only had his hands and arms free. As a form of therapy, Francis began painting with watercolor, which soon became, as he commented, “a way back to life for me…I painted in order to stay alive.” (2) He began with conventional and realistically rendered portraits and landscape images. The artist David Park (American 1911–1960) began teaching painting to Francis during weekly visits starting in 1946 (3). These visits were crucial, not only did Park encourage Francis in his painting, but he also introduced him to various other artists and art movements by bringing in artist’s books along with original paintings borrowed from a local gallery. This was Francis’ first encounter with works of art, as he had not yet visited a museum. Park along with Jermayne MacAgy, director of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor sought to remedy this by arranging a private museum visit to the Legion of Honor. One early Sunday morning, before public hours, they wheeled Francis through the galleries on his bed.
By 1946 Francis was painting full time. Not long after his release from the hospital, in early 1947, he married Vera Mae Miller. The marriage was short-lived, however, and ended in 1950. Prior to their divorce, the couple moved to Carmel, California, a noted artists’ colony, for Francis to continue his recuperation. In Carmel, Francis encountered not only other artists but also began to sell his work and had his first solo gallery exhibition at the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery in San Francisco.
In the fall of 1948, Francis returned to the University of California, Berkeley, changing his major to studio art and art history. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1949, followed by his Masters in 1950. While there, Francis became acquainted with the works of Abstract Expressionist artists such as Clyfford Still (American, 1904–1980) and Mark Rothko (American, born Latvia, 1903–1970). Still and Rothko taught at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) between 1946 and 1950, and their teaching style built upon the legacy of Hans Hoffman (American, born Germany, 1880–1966) who taught in the Bay Area in the early 1930s. The influence of Still and Rothko was far reaching, and although Francis did not study with them directly he had contact with them through other students and friends. After completing his studies, Francis moved to Paris with the painter Muriel Goodwin (who he married in 1955), and began to study at the Academie Fernand Léger using funds from the GI Bill. While he respected Léger, Francis only sporadically attended classes—mainly for critiques—and dropped out after only a year. While not a student for long, Francis immersed himself within the artistic circle in Paris, making friends with artists such as Al Held (American, 1928–2005), Alberto Giacometti (Swiss, 1901–1966), Max Ernst (German, 1891–1976) and Dorothea Tanning (American, 1910–2012), Andre Masson (French, 1896–1987), Rene Magritte (Belgian, 1898–1967), and Yves Klein (French, 1928–1962) among others, along with the critic Georges Duthuit (French, 1891–1973) who turned into an influential supporter. Additionally, he became absorbed with the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre (French, 1905–1980) and other existentialist writers.
During this period Francis completed a series of gray and white monochromatic paintings layered with cloud-like forms. In describing these works Francis commented, “For two years I lay on a hospital cot and looked out over the Pacific at the sky. I saw the sunset and the horizon and I saw these fleecy clouds. …It’s not impossible that that may be what these abstract pictures of mine grew out of.” (4) He placed these works within several group exhibitions in France. In 1952, still working monochromatically, but deepening his palette with blacks and strong colors, Francis exhibited fifteen large-scale works in his first international solo exhibition at Galerie Nina Duasset, Paris to positive reviews. (5) Around this time Francis also developed an interest in printmaking after he witnessed the artist Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893–1983) creating prints at the engraving shop, Atelier 17 in Paris.
Not long after, in 1953, Francis traveled to London to participate in his first museum exhibition, "Opposing Forces" at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, alongside Jackson Pollock (American, 1912–1956). Over the course of the next few years he continued to show his work at prominent galleries, primarily in France, and at other European museums while building a strong collector base. He also began lasting relationships with Eberhard Kornfeld who owned a gallery in Bern, Switzerland and New York-based gallery dealer Martha Jackson. He remained close with both and they continued to represent Francis throughout much of his career. In fact, it is through his friendship with Kornfeld that he developed his enthusiasm for prints. Francis stated, “I had a wonderful education through him because he has drawers and drawers full of prints...which are sensational. I can just sit there for days, going through everything...and I began to collect prints.” (6) In particular, works by Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954), William Blake (British, 1757–1827), (7) and Francisco Goya (Spanish, 1746–1828) captured his attention. These artists joined Jackson Pollack, Paul Cezanne (French, 1839–1906), Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926), and Piero della Francesca (Italian, 1415–1492) as early influences.
Despite living in Paris, Francis became loosely linked with the New York School of painters who worked in an abstract expressionist manner and, in early 1955, Francis had his first painting enter an American museum collection—"Black in Red," 1953, purchased by Alfred H. Barr for the Museum of Modern Art, in New York. Solidifying his reputation, later that year, "Life Magazine" featured Francis in their article “The Most Talked about Painter in the World.” "Time Magazine" followed a few months later, crowning him “The Hottest American Painter in Paris These Days.” (8)
Experiencing difficulties in his marriage (which led to divorce in 1959) and general dissatisfaction with life in France, Francis began to travel extensively in early 1957. He spent the first few months in New York, painting and meeting with several friends and artists, often at the Cedar Tavern. In March he travelled with paper and canvases to South Dakota, Mexico City, Mexico, and California, returning to New York for the months of July and August before heading to Tokyo in September. In early December he traveled to Thailand, Hong Kong, and India, and then returned to Paris in early 1958 to focus on the monumental three-panel piece, "Basel Mural," for the Kunsthalle Basel in Switzerland. This began an important and productive period for Francis. His painterly gestures became more calligraphic, perhaps owing to his time in Japan, and he began to play more with voids. He emphasized the white of his canvases to open space in his paintings, which created tension between the voids and the dense areas of color. The images “incorporate colored shapes that spread down from the top of the picture plane and give the impression of colored rain droplets. The compositions also evoke topographies seen from a plane flying above with floating landmasses in open areas of white. Francis later states: ‘What fascinates me is the blue of the atmosphere, seen from a jet 30,000 feet high.’” (9)
Francis continued traveling, visiting Rome and stopping in New York where he met Japanese painter Teruko Yokoi (who he married in 1959). Surgery for a hernia temporarily halted additional travel. The operation took place in Baltimore, but he recovered with his family in California. After recuperating, he returned to New York to paint (taking short trips for business back to Europe and Asia), and welcomed his first child, daughter Kayo Andreas Francis in 1959. At this time, his exhibition schedule rapidly expanded and he completed the important commission "Chase Manhattan Bank Mural," a project that took six months. Simultaneously, Francis enjoyed his first hands-on printmaking experience by working with master printer Tatyana Grossman at Universal Limited Art Editions, in Long Island, New York (due to time constrictions, however, he did not publish these lithographs until 1968). Francis fell in love with the process and started creating additional lithographic prints with printer Emil Matthieu in Zurich upon his return to Europe in 1960.
A move back to Paris in 1960 coincided with a shift in style. He removed multi-colored forms from his paintings and instead focused on intense blue biomorphic shapes that float on the canvas or consume the picture plane. What he initially believed was exhaustion was illness—tuberculosis of the kidneys. As before, Francis painted with watercolors and drew during his hospitalization of eleven months. While in the hospital, President John F. Kennedy conferred upon him the honor of the Distinguished Young American Award along with recipients that include Martin Luther King, Jr., and author John Updike. After his release in late 1961, he made a complete change in lifestyle and returned to California. Here he found the light ideal for his paintings, and commented, “Los Angels is the best for me for light in my work. New York light is hard. Paris light is a beautiful cerulean grey. But Los Angeles light is clear and bright even in haze.” (10) After he settled in and established his studio, Francis began to explore various print processes to complement his paintings, which resulted in a series of seventeen large-scale lithographs at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop. Printmaking was incredibly intriguing to the artist and by 1963 it becomes an important part of his practice. In 1964, he worked on a series of lithographs at Joseph Press in Venice, California and showed his lithographs in multiple gallery exhibitions. By 1965, he spent more time creating prints than painting. Curator William Agee explained, “Francis always loved working on paper, cherishing the intrinsic qualities of all types of paper and using them as an inherent part of the artistic process. He always valued his work on paper as much as his painting on canvas, and new ideas would first emerge on paper a year or more before they appeared in canvas." (11) For Francis, working on paper was always a collaborative partnership with his printer, and experimentation was at the forefront of his process. His friend and master printmaker, George Page, explained:
"Sam is a free spirit and has never kept a regular schedule. I print and proof and am always ready with fresh stones or plates in the event of his unannounced arrival. Our long collaboration has been based upon an unspoken rule: when an artist is ready he will let you know.
Our procedure is deceptively simple. Sam usually has floating in his mind an image generated from his painting, that image finds its way to the plate as a key image. I prepare three or four plates with tracings of this image and he draws secondary plates to accent the first. These back tusche drawings on gray aluminum plates are absolutely beautiful. It's not with hesitation that the critical first etch is applied. …
Experimentation is always important in Sam's development of an image. He allows the printer to collaborate, or to initiate a direction that will carry forward the original idea. We usually spend three or four weeks proofing, and at a certain point Sam decides the final tack. We use pure colors, not mixed with black or white, and rarely with extenders in transparent mediums.
After the color print has been editioned, Sam likes to use the same plates for an edition in black and white. In this version, colors are mixed with black so that subtle changes from warm to cool occur in successive plates. The addition of silver to black gives the images greater spatial separations." (12)
As the artist divided his time between painting and printmaking, in the mid-1960s, Time Magazine listed him as one of the top thirteen living painters. At this time, he also engaged with politics through his art for the first time by voicing his strong opposition to the Vietnam War. He did so by joining a number of artists such as Mark di Suvero (American, born 1922), Leon Golub (American, 1922–2004), Robert Motherwell (American, 1915–1991), and Mark Rothko among others in creating the “Peace Tower” in Los Angeles. Additionally, at a rally in support of protestors reacting to the government’s violent response to earlier demonstrations, Francis flew a helicopter streaming a banner with a quote by Communist leader Mao Zedong, “Let a Thousand Parks Bloom.” Throughout the rest of his career Francis continued to involve himself in political and social issues.
In the 1960s, Francis split his time between California, Japan, and Switzerland, and enjoyed a major survey of his work at the Kestner-Gesellschaft, in Hanover, Germany, along with a major showing at "Documenta III," in Kassel, Germany, and a retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts, in Houston. His relationship with Mako Idemistu intensified (they met in 1963) and they married in February 1966 after the finalization of his divorce from Teruko Yokoi. Later that year they celebrated the birth of a son, Osamu William Francis (a second son, Shingo Jules Francis was born three years later in 1969). Temporarily relocating his family to Toyko allowed Francis to spend time with his father-in-law, Sazo Idemitsu who had a large collection of late-Edo period scrolls and ink drawings that deeply inspired Francis. (13) Within these works Francis encountered uses of circles and triangles—symbols in Buddhist imagery relating to infinity—and squares, which referred to the earth. He later incorporated these symbols in his own works. He also adopted, through strokes and drips, what Burchette-Lere describes as “the spontaneous ‘controlled accident’ composition of Zen master works.” (14) This style of mark making became closely associated with Francis’ works, differentiating him from his contemporaries.
Upon his return to what had become his home base of Santa Monica, California, Francis immersed himself once again within the arts community, befriending a number of artists and forming a foundation, New Arts Projects, which had the mission of “integrating artists into the workings of society.” (15) His paintings once again shifted in style, with colors and shapes focused on the edges of the canvas. One critic described these images as “mirrors bordered with color.” (16) Of these works, Francis said, “They’re natural; they’re what I do naturally. They have nothing to do with style. They're like my footprints.” (18) Francis also expanded his printmaking capabilities by purchasing an older printing press from Tamarind Lithography Workshop for $1,500. This later became the basis for his lithography studio, the Litho Shop, Inc., which he opened in 1970. Along with printmaking, his staff at the Litho Shop managed Francis’ archives, exhibitions, and sales (in conjunction with his galleries). In many of his paintings and prints, he worked only with the colors, red, yellow, green, and blue. His friend and assistant, Dan Cytron custom blended the particular shades of each color in both paint and ink creating the same tonal and color sensibility between all of his works. While he ran the Litho Shop, and worked with a number of other artists, he also continued to work with other presses, including Gemini G.E. L. (Graphics Editions Limited) of Los Angeles.
In the 1970s, Francis continued to enjoy great success with both gallery and museum exhibitions worldwide, with many works added to museum collections. Though his career was thriving, he started psychoanalysis, which led to a deep interest in Jungian theories of the unconscious, dream analysis, and metaphysical thought, all apparent in the titles of works from this period. As he moved between painting and printmaking, in 1972 Francis learned a new process—that of aquatint. He collaboratively created a series of aquatints with master printers at Studio 2RC (Edizioni D’Arte) in Rome. As Francis was unable to travel to Italy at that time, he had the plates sent to California where he worked on them and proofed the sheets at both the Litho Shop and at the University of California, Los Angeles before he shipped them back for final printing. It is likely that Francis produced the etching and aquatint "White Chip," 1973 in the MMFA collection in this manner.
Later that year, Francis once again melded politics with his art, contributing a colorful abstract print titled, "Vote McGovern," for the "Presidential Portfolio," a fundraising tool for the Democratic National Committee. Francis began incorporating mandala imagery (although he did not want these considered strictly mandalas) and forms based upon a matrix. He brought the shapes into the center of the canvas, no longer focusing on edge paintings. Despite the energy of his gestural brushstrokes, these images are also meditative, and the artist believed that the viewer completed the meaning through their interpretation. He stated, “There are no secretes in my painting. The meaning of the painting exists in the artist as well as in the receptive viewer.” (18) The idea of the mandala also influenced Francis outside the realm of art. In the mid-1970s, his friend, Robert Thomas, shared a dream of a mandala that transformed into a wind turbine. Inspired by this, Francis, along with Thomas, and environmental activist and lawyer, George Wagner attempted to bring the dream to reality. Together they formed an alternative-energy corporation, Wind Harvest Company. The company brought the idea to fruition, ultimately creating the Windstar wind turbine.
Keeping busy with his art, by 1979 Francis’ exhibition schedule was overwhelming. In that year alone, he participated in over fifty group exhibitions as well as a number of solo presentations. It was an intense period as Francis’ working style was to rush to complete work for exhibitions. His friend and colleague, George Page, at the Litho Shop explained, “Sam was always late to do a show….It drove him crazy, always doubting [whether] he could do it or not….He needed the pressure…it helped propel him to get going.” (19)
Despite his great success, he did not believe that the art world held a favorable perception of his work. He explained in an interview, “In the United States I am successful, but they don’t take me seriously. I have two serious faults: to have lived in Paris in the 1950s and to be a Californian. When they say of the work of a painter, ‘It’s far too European,’ the American have said it all. For some Americans, this summarizes my painting: it is too European.” (20) Museum curators Robert T. Buck Jr. and Peter Selz also noted the mixed reaction Francis received in America. Selz questioned,
"Why is it that Sam Francis, who is acknowledged in Europe and Japan as one of the great painters of the present times, has been given comparatively little recognition in his own country, and has, at times, even been ignored? Why do his canvases hang more prominently in the museums of Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Basel, Dusseldorf, and Berlin than in American museums? Why is the artist who was certainly partly responsible for the “triumph of American painting” not even mentioned in the book of this title by New York critic Irving Sandler?’ Unfortunately, the stigma of not residing full-time in New York and not making art filled with ‘personal despair and anguish’ a qualifier important to many art critics, such as Hilton Kramer) continues to keep Francis from the annals of Abstract Expressionism." (21)
While many believed Francis’ work was too European, his peers in California respected him greatly and held him in high regard. Elected to the board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art in 1980, his input greatly impacted many aspects of the museum including the formation of an artists’ advisory council, the hiring of the director, and selecting the building’s architect. At this time, he also formed the foundation of the Archives for Research in Archetypal Symbolism and became involved in a film about psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Although deeply imbedded in his community and making great contributions, Francis’ personal life was once again tumultuous as his marriage to Mako Idemistu ended in divorce. Perhaps owing to the emotional upheaval, his painting style changed once more, with the matrix-like forms becoming less heavy, and cloudlike imagery taking precedence.
In 1981, Francis again used his art for political purposes and contributed a print as part of the "Presidential Portfolio" for the Democratic Nation Committee to raise funds for presidential nominee Jimmy Carter. Not long after, Francis expanded the Litho Shop to include an etching studio, run by master printer Jacob Samuel. Between his many studios and the Litho Shop, Francis employed more than ten people to manage his exhibition schedule and to assist him in printing and in preparing canvases. They helped to keep things running smoothly while he traveled throughout the decade. While in Tokyo, he met British artist Margaret Smith, who became his fifth wife in 1985. Just prior to that he founded Lapis Press, a publication house specializing in poetry and literature, visual arts and criticism, philosophy and Jungian psychology, and artist books. His friend, and eventual director and editor of Lapis, Robert Shapazian, said that Lapis Press “signified to Sam the union of spirit and matter, and the dialogue between the infinity of the sky and the things of the earth. In his notebooks, he wrote: ‘Lapis—one Stone, one vessel, one method, one disposition.’ This disposition was the willingness to try an infinite variety of things, to risk new ventures, to enlist the creative power of chance.” (22) Balancing all of his projects, Francis also celebrated the birth of his fourth child, Augustus James Joseph Francis in 1986. The next year, Francis got involved with doctors Robert H. Jacobs, Jordan U. Gutterman, and Silvio Barandun, along with his lawyer and friend, Martin Sosin and opened the Sam Francis Medical Research Center, Inc., which explored various environmental and infectious diseases along with alternative medicines. This idea developed from his involvement with the Society for Human Development, another organization that explored holistic healing. These are public displays of Francis’ generosity; he supported many causes big and small, along with financially aiding many fellow artists. This giving spirit was sometimes in conflict with his personality. Burchett-Lere states, “Francis’ compassion, generosity, and big hearted nature are well documented and are some of his greatest attributes. However, he is also described as contradictory, mercurial, and having a tendency to stir the pot to create emotionally charged dynamics among his assistants, dealers, family and friends, sometimes causing difficulties in otherwise good relationships." (23)
In late 1989, a diagnosis of prostate cancer surprised Francis and he decided to fight the disease with alternative medicines and treatments. Initially, he continued to work but soon became tired and weak. Concerned with healing himself and others he created NATRX, a business focused on homeopathic medicines. Additionally, thinking of the future, he organized his estate and formed with Martin Sosin the Samuel L. Francis Art Museum, which also facilitated charitable donations. Despite his failing health, he worked steadily, continued to travel, and had numerous gallery and museum exhibitions. Some of the alternative therapies appeared to help in the short term, but the cancer spread. By 1993 the cancer metastasized to his bones, and a break in his right arm halted his ability to paint for a while. Although he regained the use of his arm, he soon became wheelchair bound, which limited the scale of his works. On November 4, 1994, Francis died at the age of 71.
Printmaking was an essential part of Francis’ career. To him, the process of creating prints was as equally important as painting, and he was prolific in both media. By 1992, the date of publication for his catalogue raisonné of prints, Francis had created more than 450 editioned prints. (24) He continued to pursue printmaking after this date until he became too ill to work. In each of these editions he varied the number of impressions. While most had fewer than 50 impressions, they ranged between 5 and 150. (25)
Jennifer Jankauskas
2/17/16
(1) Resources pertaining to Sam Francis' work are numerous. Primary sources for this essay come from the following: Information on file, (Artist's Vertical File, MMFA Library and MMFA Objects Record File: 2012.9.1–3) Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL; Sam Francis Foundation, http://samfrancisfoundation.org/; William C. Agee, "Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990," Los Angeles, CA: Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1999; Debora Burchett-Lere, “Sam Francis: A Biological Timeline,” "Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of Canvas and Panel Paintings 1946–1994," Berkeley: California: University of California Press, 2011; Ebria Feinblatt, "Sam Francis," Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1980; Connie W. Lembark, "The Prints of Sam Francis: A Catalogue Raisonne 1960-1990," Easthampton, MA: Hudson Hills Press, 1992; and Martin Sosin, "Sam Francis: Color is the Essence of it All," Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica College Foundation, 2003.
(2) Francis quoted in Debora Burchett-Lere, “Sam Francis: A Biological Timeline,” "Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of Canvas and Panel Paintings 1946–1994," Berkeley: California: University of California Press, 2011, p. 144.
(3) According to William C. Agee, it is likely, that Park learned of Francis through a newspaper article. Agee, “Sam Francis: A Painter’s Dialogue with Color, Light, and Space,” in "Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of Canvas and Panel Paintings 1946–1994," Debra Burchett-Lere, Ed., Berkeley: California: University of California Press, 2011, p. 8.
(4) Burchett-Lere, p. 154.
(5) The gallery is also referred to in some of the literature as Galerie du Dragon, named for the street location of Galerie Nina Duasset.
(6) Francis quoted in Connie W. Lembark, "The Prints of Sam Francis: A Catalogue Raisonne 1960-1990," Easthampton, MA: Hudson Hills Press, 1992, p. 34.
(7) As a great lover of literature and poetry, Francis found inspiration in both Blake’s writings and visual art.
(8) Burchett-Lere, p. 172.
(9) Ibid, p. 181.
(10) Francis quoted in Burchett-Lere, p. 204.
(11) William C. Agee, "Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990," Los Angeles, CA: Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1999, p. 14.
(12) George Page quoted in Lembark, pp. 7-8.
(13) Sazo Idemitsu also founded the Idemitsu Museum of Arts in 1966 in Toyko. Francis exhibited in this space and they hold a collection of his works.
(14) Burchett-Lere, p. 211.
(15) Ibid, p. 217.
(16) Ibid, p. 221.
(17) Ibid, p.225.
(18) Francis quoted in Burchett-Lere, p. 235.
(19) George Page quoted in Burchett-Lere, p. 242.
(20) Francis quoted in Burchett-Lere, p. 249.
(21) Peter Selz quoted in Burchett-Lere, p. 255.
(22) Robert Shapazian quoted in Burchett-Lere, p. 257-258.
(23) Burchett-Lere, p. 262.
(24) Lembark.
(25) Ibid, p. 18.
Image credit: Eric Koch, Sam Francis, 1968, Courtesy of the National Photography Archive (ANEFO), CC-BY-SA-3.0-NL
American
(San Mateo, California, 1923 - 1994)
Samuel Lewis Francis was born in 1923 in San Mateo, California. Growing up, his parents, Samuel Francis, a mathematics professor, and Elizabeth Lewis, an accomplished pianist and French teacher encouraged strong cultural values. (1) He and his younger brother George (born 1926) were exposed to language, music, and literature, which had a lasting influence although there was not a specific influence on visual arts. (In fact, Francis did not visit a museum until he was in his twenties). At the age of twelve, Francis’ mother died, and a few years later his father married Virginia Anderson, with whom Francis developed a close relationship.
In 1941, Francis began studies at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring first in botany and later switching to psychology and medicine. He abandoned his coursework to join the Army Air Corps Reserves in 1942 as a fighter pilot during World War II. While Francis did not see battle in Europe, he unfortunately sustained serious injuries. During a training flight in Tucson, Arizona in 1944, Francis’ plane ran out of fuel, forcing an emergency landing during which his spine became severely compressed. While a severe injury in itself, this incident triggered previously undiagnosed spinal tuberculosis causing Francis to spend much time in and out of hospitals over the next few years. In 1945, he underwent surgery and continued fighting tuberculosis while wearing a full body cast. His recovery was slow and he spent the next few years in the hospital, depressed over his confinement and the loss of his military career.
Francis’ movement was limited; initially, he only had his hands and arms free. As a form of therapy, Francis began painting with watercolor, which soon became, as he commented, “a way back to life for me…I painted in order to stay alive.” (2) He began with conventional and realistically rendered portraits and landscape images. The artist David Park (American 1911–1960) began teaching painting to Francis during weekly visits starting in 1946 (3). These visits were crucial, not only did Park encourage Francis in his painting, but he also introduced him to various other artists and art movements by bringing in artist’s books along with original paintings borrowed from a local gallery. This was Francis’ first encounter with works of art, as he had not yet visited a museum. Park along with Jermayne MacAgy, director of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor sought to remedy this by arranging a private museum visit to the Legion of Honor. One early Sunday morning, before public hours, they wheeled Francis through the galleries on his bed.
By 1946 Francis was painting full time. Not long after his release from the hospital, in early 1947, he married Vera Mae Miller. The marriage was short-lived, however, and ended in 1950. Prior to their divorce, the couple moved to Carmel, California, a noted artists’ colony, for Francis to continue his recuperation. In Carmel, Francis encountered not only other artists but also began to sell his work and had his first solo gallery exhibition at the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery in San Francisco.
In the fall of 1948, Francis returned to the University of California, Berkeley, changing his major to studio art and art history. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1949, followed by his Masters in 1950. While there, Francis became acquainted with the works of Abstract Expressionist artists such as Clyfford Still (American, 1904–1980) and Mark Rothko (American, born Latvia, 1903–1970). Still and Rothko taught at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) between 1946 and 1950, and their teaching style built upon the legacy of Hans Hoffman (American, born Germany, 1880–1966) who taught in the Bay Area in the early 1930s. The influence of Still and Rothko was far reaching, and although Francis did not study with them directly he had contact with them through other students and friends. After completing his studies, Francis moved to Paris with the painter Muriel Goodwin (who he married in 1955), and began to study at the Academie Fernand Léger using funds from the GI Bill. While he respected Léger, Francis only sporadically attended classes—mainly for critiques—and dropped out after only a year. While not a student for long, Francis immersed himself within the artistic circle in Paris, making friends with artists such as Al Held (American, 1928–2005), Alberto Giacometti (Swiss, 1901–1966), Max Ernst (German, 1891–1976) and Dorothea Tanning (American, 1910–2012), Andre Masson (French, 1896–1987), Rene Magritte (Belgian, 1898–1967), and Yves Klein (French, 1928–1962) among others, along with the critic Georges Duthuit (French, 1891–1973) who turned into an influential supporter. Additionally, he became absorbed with the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre (French, 1905–1980) and other existentialist writers.
During this period Francis completed a series of gray and white monochromatic paintings layered with cloud-like forms. In describing these works Francis commented, “For two years I lay on a hospital cot and looked out over the Pacific at the sky. I saw the sunset and the horizon and I saw these fleecy clouds. …It’s not impossible that that may be what these abstract pictures of mine grew out of.” (4) He placed these works within several group exhibitions in France. In 1952, still working monochromatically, but deepening his palette with blacks and strong colors, Francis exhibited fifteen large-scale works in his first international solo exhibition at Galerie Nina Duasset, Paris to positive reviews. (5) Around this time Francis also developed an interest in printmaking after he witnessed the artist Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893–1983) creating prints at the engraving shop, Atelier 17 in Paris.
Not long after, in 1953, Francis traveled to London to participate in his first museum exhibition, "Opposing Forces" at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, alongside Jackson Pollock (American, 1912–1956). Over the course of the next few years he continued to show his work at prominent galleries, primarily in France, and at other European museums while building a strong collector base. He also began lasting relationships with Eberhard Kornfeld who owned a gallery in Bern, Switzerland and New York-based gallery dealer Martha Jackson. He remained close with both and they continued to represent Francis throughout much of his career. In fact, it is through his friendship with Kornfeld that he developed his enthusiasm for prints. Francis stated, “I had a wonderful education through him because he has drawers and drawers full of prints...which are sensational. I can just sit there for days, going through everything...and I began to collect prints.” (6) In particular, works by Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954), William Blake (British, 1757–1827), (7) and Francisco Goya (Spanish, 1746–1828) captured his attention. These artists joined Jackson Pollack, Paul Cezanne (French, 1839–1906), Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926), and Piero della Francesca (Italian, 1415–1492) as early influences.
Despite living in Paris, Francis became loosely linked with the New York School of painters who worked in an abstract expressionist manner and, in early 1955, Francis had his first painting enter an American museum collection—"Black in Red," 1953, purchased by Alfred H. Barr for the Museum of Modern Art, in New York. Solidifying his reputation, later that year, "Life Magazine" featured Francis in their article “The Most Talked about Painter in the World.” "Time Magazine" followed a few months later, crowning him “The Hottest American Painter in Paris These Days.” (8)
Experiencing difficulties in his marriage (which led to divorce in 1959) and general dissatisfaction with life in France, Francis began to travel extensively in early 1957. He spent the first few months in New York, painting and meeting with several friends and artists, often at the Cedar Tavern. In March he travelled with paper and canvases to South Dakota, Mexico City, Mexico, and California, returning to New York for the months of July and August before heading to Tokyo in September. In early December he traveled to Thailand, Hong Kong, and India, and then returned to Paris in early 1958 to focus on the monumental three-panel piece, "Basel Mural," for the Kunsthalle Basel in Switzerland. This began an important and productive period for Francis. His painterly gestures became more calligraphic, perhaps owing to his time in Japan, and he began to play more with voids. He emphasized the white of his canvases to open space in his paintings, which created tension between the voids and the dense areas of color. The images “incorporate colored shapes that spread down from the top of the picture plane and give the impression of colored rain droplets. The compositions also evoke topographies seen from a plane flying above with floating landmasses in open areas of white. Francis later states: ‘What fascinates me is the blue of the atmosphere, seen from a jet 30,000 feet high.’” (9)
Francis continued traveling, visiting Rome and stopping in New York where he met Japanese painter Teruko Yokoi (who he married in 1959). Surgery for a hernia temporarily halted additional travel. The operation took place in Baltimore, but he recovered with his family in California. After recuperating, he returned to New York to paint (taking short trips for business back to Europe and Asia), and welcomed his first child, daughter Kayo Andreas Francis in 1959. At this time, his exhibition schedule rapidly expanded and he completed the important commission "Chase Manhattan Bank Mural," a project that took six months. Simultaneously, Francis enjoyed his first hands-on printmaking experience by working with master printer Tatyana Grossman at Universal Limited Art Editions, in Long Island, New York (due to time constrictions, however, he did not publish these lithographs until 1968). Francis fell in love with the process and started creating additional lithographic prints with printer Emil Matthieu in Zurich upon his return to Europe in 1960.
A move back to Paris in 1960 coincided with a shift in style. He removed multi-colored forms from his paintings and instead focused on intense blue biomorphic shapes that float on the canvas or consume the picture plane. What he initially believed was exhaustion was illness—tuberculosis of the kidneys. As before, Francis painted with watercolors and drew during his hospitalization of eleven months. While in the hospital, President John F. Kennedy conferred upon him the honor of the Distinguished Young American Award along with recipients that include Martin Luther King, Jr., and author John Updike. After his release in late 1961, he made a complete change in lifestyle and returned to California. Here he found the light ideal for his paintings, and commented, “Los Angels is the best for me for light in my work. New York light is hard. Paris light is a beautiful cerulean grey. But Los Angeles light is clear and bright even in haze.” (10) After he settled in and established his studio, Francis began to explore various print processes to complement his paintings, which resulted in a series of seventeen large-scale lithographs at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop. Printmaking was incredibly intriguing to the artist and by 1963 it becomes an important part of his practice. In 1964, he worked on a series of lithographs at Joseph Press in Venice, California and showed his lithographs in multiple gallery exhibitions. By 1965, he spent more time creating prints than painting. Curator William Agee explained, “Francis always loved working on paper, cherishing the intrinsic qualities of all types of paper and using them as an inherent part of the artistic process. He always valued his work on paper as much as his painting on canvas, and new ideas would first emerge on paper a year or more before they appeared in canvas." (11) For Francis, working on paper was always a collaborative partnership with his printer, and experimentation was at the forefront of his process. His friend and master printmaker, George Page, explained:
"Sam is a free spirit and has never kept a regular schedule. I print and proof and am always ready with fresh stones or plates in the event of his unannounced arrival. Our long collaboration has been based upon an unspoken rule: when an artist is ready he will let you know.
Our procedure is deceptively simple. Sam usually has floating in his mind an image generated from his painting, that image finds its way to the plate as a key image. I prepare three or four plates with tracings of this image and he draws secondary plates to accent the first. These back tusche drawings on gray aluminum plates are absolutely beautiful. It's not with hesitation that the critical first etch is applied. …
Experimentation is always important in Sam's development of an image. He allows the printer to collaborate, or to initiate a direction that will carry forward the original idea. We usually spend three or four weeks proofing, and at a certain point Sam decides the final tack. We use pure colors, not mixed with black or white, and rarely with extenders in transparent mediums.
After the color print has been editioned, Sam likes to use the same plates for an edition in black and white. In this version, colors are mixed with black so that subtle changes from warm to cool occur in successive plates. The addition of silver to black gives the images greater spatial separations." (12)
As the artist divided his time between painting and printmaking, in the mid-1960s, Time Magazine listed him as one of the top thirteen living painters. At this time, he also engaged with politics through his art for the first time by voicing his strong opposition to the Vietnam War. He did so by joining a number of artists such as Mark di Suvero (American, born 1922), Leon Golub (American, 1922–2004), Robert Motherwell (American, 1915–1991), and Mark Rothko among others in creating the “Peace Tower” in Los Angeles. Additionally, at a rally in support of protestors reacting to the government’s violent response to earlier demonstrations, Francis flew a helicopter streaming a banner with a quote by Communist leader Mao Zedong, “Let a Thousand Parks Bloom.” Throughout the rest of his career Francis continued to involve himself in political and social issues.
In the 1960s, Francis split his time between California, Japan, and Switzerland, and enjoyed a major survey of his work at the Kestner-Gesellschaft, in Hanover, Germany, along with a major showing at "Documenta III," in Kassel, Germany, and a retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts, in Houston. His relationship with Mako Idemistu intensified (they met in 1963) and they married in February 1966 after the finalization of his divorce from Teruko Yokoi. Later that year they celebrated the birth of a son, Osamu William Francis (a second son, Shingo Jules Francis was born three years later in 1969). Temporarily relocating his family to Toyko allowed Francis to spend time with his father-in-law, Sazo Idemitsu who had a large collection of late-Edo period scrolls and ink drawings that deeply inspired Francis. (13) Within these works Francis encountered uses of circles and triangles—symbols in Buddhist imagery relating to infinity—and squares, which referred to the earth. He later incorporated these symbols in his own works. He also adopted, through strokes and drips, what Burchette-Lere describes as “the spontaneous ‘controlled accident’ composition of Zen master works.” (14) This style of mark making became closely associated with Francis’ works, differentiating him from his contemporaries.
Upon his return to what had become his home base of Santa Monica, California, Francis immersed himself once again within the arts community, befriending a number of artists and forming a foundation, New Arts Projects, which had the mission of “integrating artists into the workings of society.” (15) His paintings once again shifted in style, with colors and shapes focused on the edges of the canvas. One critic described these images as “mirrors bordered with color.” (16) Of these works, Francis said, “They’re natural; they’re what I do naturally. They have nothing to do with style. They're like my footprints.” (18) Francis also expanded his printmaking capabilities by purchasing an older printing press from Tamarind Lithography Workshop for $1,500. This later became the basis for his lithography studio, the Litho Shop, Inc., which he opened in 1970. Along with printmaking, his staff at the Litho Shop managed Francis’ archives, exhibitions, and sales (in conjunction with his galleries). In many of his paintings and prints, he worked only with the colors, red, yellow, green, and blue. His friend and assistant, Dan Cytron custom blended the particular shades of each color in both paint and ink creating the same tonal and color sensibility between all of his works. While he ran the Litho Shop, and worked with a number of other artists, he also continued to work with other presses, including Gemini G.E. L. (Graphics Editions Limited) of Los Angeles.
In the 1970s, Francis continued to enjoy great success with both gallery and museum exhibitions worldwide, with many works added to museum collections. Though his career was thriving, he started psychoanalysis, which led to a deep interest in Jungian theories of the unconscious, dream analysis, and metaphysical thought, all apparent in the titles of works from this period. As he moved between painting and printmaking, in 1972 Francis learned a new process—that of aquatint. He collaboratively created a series of aquatints with master printers at Studio 2RC (Edizioni D’Arte) in Rome. As Francis was unable to travel to Italy at that time, he had the plates sent to California where he worked on them and proofed the sheets at both the Litho Shop and at the University of California, Los Angeles before he shipped them back for final printing. It is likely that Francis produced the etching and aquatint "White Chip," 1973 in the MMFA collection in this manner.
Later that year, Francis once again melded politics with his art, contributing a colorful abstract print titled, "Vote McGovern," for the "Presidential Portfolio," a fundraising tool for the Democratic National Committee. Francis began incorporating mandala imagery (although he did not want these considered strictly mandalas) and forms based upon a matrix. He brought the shapes into the center of the canvas, no longer focusing on edge paintings. Despite the energy of his gestural brushstrokes, these images are also meditative, and the artist believed that the viewer completed the meaning through their interpretation. He stated, “There are no secretes in my painting. The meaning of the painting exists in the artist as well as in the receptive viewer.” (18) The idea of the mandala also influenced Francis outside the realm of art. In the mid-1970s, his friend, Robert Thomas, shared a dream of a mandala that transformed into a wind turbine. Inspired by this, Francis, along with Thomas, and environmental activist and lawyer, George Wagner attempted to bring the dream to reality. Together they formed an alternative-energy corporation, Wind Harvest Company. The company brought the idea to fruition, ultimately creating the Windstar wind turbine.
Keeping busy with his art, by 1979 Francis’ exhibition schedule was overwhelming. In that year alone, he participated in over fifty group exhibitions as well as a number of solo presentations. It was an intense period as Francis’ working style was to rush to complete work for exhibitions. His friend and colleague, George Page, at the Litho Shop explained, “Sam was always late to do a show….It drove him crazy, always doubting [whether] he could do it or not….He needed the pressure…it helped propel him to get going.” (19)
Despite his great success, he did not believe that the art world held a favorable perception of his work. He explained in an interview, “In the United States I am successful, but they don’t take me seriously. I have two serious faults: to have lived in Paris in the 1950s and to be a Californian. When they say of the work of a painter, ‘It’s far too European,’ the American have said it all. For some Americans, this summarizes my painting: it is too European.” (20) Museum curators Robert T. Buck Jr. and Peter Selz also noted the mixed reaction Francis received in America. Selz questioned,
"Why is it that Sam Francis, who is acknowledged in Europe and Japan as one of the great painters of the present times, has been given comparatively little recognition in his own country, and has, at times, even been ignored? Why do his canvases hang more prominently in the museums of Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Basel, Dusseldorf, and Berlin than in American museums? Why is the artist who was certainly partly responsible for the “triumph of American painting” not even mentioned in the book of this title by New York critic Irving Sandler?’ Unfortunately, the stigma of not residing full-time in New York and not making art filled with ‘personal despair and anguish’ a qualifier important to many art critics, such as Hilton Kramer) continues to keep Francis from the annals of Abstract Expressionism." (21)
While many believed Francis’ work was too European, his peers in California respected him greatly and held him in high regard. Elected to the board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art in 1980, his input greatly impacted many aspects of the museum including the formation of an artists’ advisory council, the hiring of the director, and selecting the building’s architect. At this time, he also formed the foundation of the Archives for Research in Archetypal Symbolism and became involved in a film about psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Although deeply imbedded in his community and making great contributions, Francis’ personal life was once again tumultuous as his marriage to Mako Idemistu ended in divorce. Perhaps owing to the emotional upheaval, his painting style changed once more, with the matrix-like forms becoming less heavy, and cloudlike imagery taking precedence.
In 1981, Francis again used his art for political purposes and contributed a print as part of the "Presidential Portfolio" for the Democratic Nation Committee to raise funds for presidential nominee Jimmy Carter. Not long after, Francis expanded the Litho Shop to include an etching studio, run by master printer Jacob Samuel. Between his many studios and the Litho Shop, Francis employed more than ten people to manage his exhibition schedule and to assist him in printing and in preparing canvases. They helped to keep things running smoothly while he traveled throughout the decade. While in Tokyo, he met British artist Margaret Smith, who became his fifth wife in 1985. Just prior to that he founded Lapis Press, a publication house specializing in poetry and literature, visual arts and criticism, philosophy and Jungian psychology, and artist books. His friend, and eventual director and editor of Lapis, Robert Shapazian, said that Lapis Press “signified to Sam the union of spirit and matter, and the dialogue between the infinity of the sky and the things of the earth. In his notebooks, he wrote: ‘Lapis—one Stone, one vessel, one method, one disposition.’ This disposition was the willingness to try an infinite variety of things, to risk new ventures, to enlist the creative power of chance.” (22) Balancing all of his projects, Francis also celebrated the birth of his fourth child, Augustus James Joseph Francis in 1986. The next year, Francis got involved with doctors Robert H. Jacobs, Jordan U. Gutterman, and Silvio Barandun, along with his lawyer and friend, Martin Sosin and opened the Sam Francis Medical Research Center, Inc., which explored various environmental and infectious diseases along with alternative medicines. This idea developed from his involvement with the Society for Human Development, another organization that explored holistic healing. These are public displays of Francis’ generosity; he supported many causes big and small, along with financially aiding many fellow artists. This giving spirit was sometimes in conflict with his personality. Burchett-Lere states, “Francis’ compassion, generosity, and big hearted nature are well documented and are some of his greatest attributes. However, he is also described as contradictory, mercurial, and having a tendency to stir the pot to create emotionally charged dynamics among his assistants, dealers, family and friends, sometimes causing difficulties in otherwise good relationships." (23)
In late 1989, a diagnosis of prostate cancer surprised Francis and he decided to fight the disease with alternative medicines and treatments. Initially, he continued to work but soon became tired and weak. Concerned with healing himself and others he created NATRX, a business focused on homeopathic medicines. Additionally, thinking of the future, he organized his estate and formed with Martin Sosin the Samuel L. Francis Art Museum, which also facilitated charitable donations. Despite his failing health, he worked steadily, continued to travel, and had numerous gallery and museum exhibitions. Some of the alternative therapies appeared to help in the short term, but the cancer spread. By 1993 the cancer metastasized to his bones, and a break in his right arm halted his ability to paint for a while. Although he regained the use of his arm, he soon became wheelchair bound, which limited the scale of his works. On November 4, 1994, Francis died at the age of 71.
Printmaking was an essential part of Francis’ career. To him, the process of creating prints was as equally important as painting, and he was prolific in both media. By 1992, the date of publication for his catalogue raisonné of prints, Francis had created more than 450 editioned prints. (24) He continued to pursue printmaking after this date until he became too ill to work. In each of these editions he varied the number of impressions. While most had fewer than 50 impressions, they ranged between 5 and 150. (25)
Jennifer Jankauskas
2/17/16
(1) Resources pertaining to Sam Francis' work are numerous. Primary sources for this essay come from the following: Information on file, (Artist's Vertical File, MMFA Library and MMFA Objects Record File: 2012.9.1–3) Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL; Sam Francis Foundation, http://samfrancisfoundation.org/; William C. Agee, "Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990," Los Angeles, CA: Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1999; Debora Burchett-Lere, “Sam Francis: A Biological Timeline,” "Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of Canvas and Panel Paintings 1946–1994," Berkeley: California: University of California Press, 2011; Ebria Feinblatt, "Sam Francis," Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1980; Connie W. Lembark, "The Prints of Sam Francis: A Catalogue Raisonne 1960-1990," Easthampton, MA: Hudson Hills Press, 1992; and Martin Sosin, "Sam Francis: Color is the Essence of it All," Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica College Foundation, 2003.
(2) Francis quoted in Debora Burchett-Lere, “Sam Francis: A Biological Timeline,” "Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of Canvas and Panel Paintings 1946–1994," Berkeley: California: University of California Press, 2011, p. 144.
(3) According to William C. Agee, it is likely, that Park learned of Francis through a newspaper article. Agee, “Sam Francis: A Painter’s Dialogue with Color, Light, and Space,” in "Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of Canvas and Panel Paintings 1946–1994," Debra Burchett-Lere, Ed., Berkeley: California: University of California Press, 2011, p. 8.
(4) Burchett-Lere, p. 154.
(5) The gallery is also referred to in some of the literature as Galerie du Dragon, named for the street location of Galerie Nina Duasset.
(6) Francis quoted in Connie W. Lembark, "The Prints of Sam Francis: A Catalogue Raisonne 1960-1990," Easthampton, MA: Hudson Hills Press, 1992, p. 34.
(7) As a great lover of literature and poetry, Francis found inspiration in both Blake’s writings and visual art.
(8) Burchett-Lere, p. 172.
(9) Ibid, p. 181.
(10) Francis quoted in Burchett-Lere, p. 204.
(11) William C. Agee, "Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990," Los Angeles, CA: Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1999, p. 14.
(12) George Page quoted in Lembark, pp. 7-8.
(13) Sazo Idemitsu also founded the Idemitsu Museum of Arts in 1966 in Toyko. Francis exhibited in this space and they hold a collection of his works.
(14) Burchett-Lere, p. 211.
(15) Ibid, p. 217.
(16) Ibid, p. 221.
(17) Ibid, p.225.
(18) Francis quoted in Burchett-Lere, p. 235.
(19) George Page quoted in Burchett-Lere, p. 242.
(20) Francis quoted in Burchett-Lere, p. 249.
(21) Peter Selz quoted in Burchett-Lere, p. 255.
(22) Robert Shapazian quoted in Burchett-Lere, p. 257-258.
(23) Burchett-Lere, p. 262.
(24) Lembark.
(25) Ibid, p. 18.
Image credit: Eric Koch, Sam Francis, 1968, Courtesy of the National Photography Archive (ANEFO), CC-BY-SA-3.0-NL
Artist Objects
