Sam Francis - Mooi gekleurde litho - Poems in the sky

Sam Francis - Poème dans le ciel - 1986

Original chromolithography on paper.
Not signed.
Dimensions: 76 x 56 cm.
In perfect condition.
Printed by: Atelier Desjobert.
Catalog reference: L273.
Printed lower right: "Original lithograph by Sam Francis"
Sam Francis (1923 - 1994) occupies a prominent place in postwar American painting. Although associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement and Clement Greenberg's post-painterly abstraction, he had, unlike many American painters of his time, a direct and long-lasting exposure to French painting and to Japanese art, which had an individual impact on his work.

When Francis left the US Army Air Corps due to illness in 1944, he began painting as a hobby. He decided to make it a serious endeavor and studied with David Park in 1947, completing his BA and MA at the University of California. He was Strongly influenced by Abstract Expressionism, particularly the works of Clyfford Still and Jackson Pollock, Francis developed his own style by the time in his use of the space on the canvas to allow free circulation of strong colours and sensitivity to light. that his studies had ended.

Francis moved to Paris in 1950, where he met Jean-Paul Riopelle, who would continue to be an important influence, and the study of Monet's water lilies had a major impact on his work. From a very muted palette of grays and whites he returned to the qualities of light and colour, producing works such as Big Red 1953. He continued to develop his use of white space and increased the size of his paintings for emphasis. During his time in Europe he produced a number of monumental murals.

Francis returned to California in 1962 and was then influenced by the West Coast School's preoccupation with mysticism and Eastern philosophy. Blue had become a more dominant feature of his work since 1959, inspired by personal suffering and the great joy of being able to father in 1961. This led to combinations of hard colours and more disciplined structures with centrally placed rectangles in the 1970s. Eventually these stiffer structures gave way to looser configurations, sometimes of snake-like shapes with web-like patterns. Blue, sometimes brilliant, remained an important part of many later works.