Sam Francis
| Sam Francis | |
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Sam Francis in 1968
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| Born |
Samuel Lewis Francis June 25, 1923 San Mateo, California |
| Died | November 4, 1994 (aged 71) Santa Monica, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley |
| Known for | Painting, Printmaking |
| Website | www |
| Elected | National Academy of Design (1994) |
Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker.
Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California, the son of Katherine Lewis Francis and Samuel Augustus Francis, Sr. The 1935 death of his mother, who had encouraged his interest in music affected him deeply, but he later developed a strong bond with his stepmother, Virginia Peterson Francis.
Francis served in the United States Air Force during World War II before being injured during test flight maneuvers. He was in the hospital for several years, and it was while there, after being visited by artist David Park in 1945, that he began to paint. Once out of the hospital he returned to Berkeley, this time to study art. He received both his BA degree (1949) and MA degree (1950) from University of California, Berkeley, where he studied botany, medicine and psychology.
Francis was initially influenced by the work of abstract expressionists such as Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky and Clyfford Still. He later became loosely associated with a second generation of abstract expressionists, including Joan Mitchell and Helen Frankenthaler, who were increasingly interested in the expressive use of color.
He spent the 1950s in Paris, having his first exhibition there at the Galerie Nina Dausset in 1952. While in Paris he became associated with Tachisme, and had his work championed by art critics Michel Tapié and Claude Duthuit ( the son-in-law of the painter Henri Matisse).
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