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Sam FrancisUntitled, from Deluxe Lt Edition of the 1 Cent Life Portfolio HAND SIGNED TWICE 1964
1964
About the Item
Sam Francis
Untitled Abstract Expressionist from the Deluxe [signed] edition of the 1 Cent Life Portfolio (hand signed twice, #85/100, from the Estate of Robert Indiana), 1964
Lithograph on wove paper (Hand signed twice by Sam Francis)
Pencil signed twice by Sam Francis on the front; numbered 85/100 on the portfolio colophon (copy of the colophon page affixed to the verso of frame)
Acquired from original, complete 1 Cent Life Portfolio, # 85/100 (Artists & Collaborators) from the Estate and Collection of Robert Indiana
Frame included
About 1 Cent Life
"1 Cent Life" began as a simple idea by artist Walasse Ting in 1962, developed during talks he had with his friend the artist Sam Francis. Ting wanted to combine international artists and different styles into a single book, linking them together in one collective spirit alongside his own art and poetry. It was a landmark publication from 1964, and now a somewhat rare collectible portfolio based on the impressive artwork it contains. It was a revolutionary tract for a collective aesthetic; an assembled vision of Pop and European abstraction, featuring flat hard-edged and splatter painting; biomorphic art, splashing florescent colors and monochromes all meeting up in a single loud and dynamic package. "1 Cent Life" is among the most beautifully conceived and artistic book-works of the 1960s, unlike anything published before or after. "1 Cent Life" is a large elephant-folio unbound book containing 62 lithographs made by 28 European and American artists with 62 letterpress poems by Ting and set in multi-colored inks. The lithography was realized and printed in Paris by Maurice Beaudet and the typography carried out in handset letterpress by George Girard. The book was published by E. W. Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland in 1964, and edited by artist Sam Francis. In addition to the original printing of 1900 unsigned copies, there was a numbered portfolio edition of 100 signed copies. These two Sam Francis signed prints are part of that edition. There are 62 original lithographs in colors by; Pierre Alechinsky, Karel Appel, Enrico Baj, Alan Davie, Jim Dine, Oyvind Fahlstrom, Sam Francis, Robert Indiana, Alfred Jensen, Asgar Jorn, Allan Kaprow, Alfred Leslie, Roy Lichtenstein, Joan Mitchell, Kiki O.K., Claes Oldenburg, Mel Ramos, Robert Rauschenberg, Reinhold, J.P. Riopelle, James Rosenquist, Antonio Saura, Kimber Smith, K.R.H. Sonderberg, Walasse Ting, Bram Van Velde, Andy Warhol and Tom Wesselmann.
About the present work
This Sam Francis is a rare hand signed example - in fact, it comprises two separate panels, each hand signed twice: on the lower left and bottom right front, from the Deluxe Edition of the legendary 1 Cent Life Portfolio, published in a limited edition of only 100, numbered 85/100 on the colophon, reserved for artists and collaborators; the present panels being from the collection of Robert Indiana, one of the artists who contributed to the portfolio). Collectors often cut this sheet into two separate lithographs, since each is signed, but we have chosen to leave the sheet intact as two panels together, with both works together, and the two distinct hand signatures. The text, which reads "Uncle Sam" written by Walasse Ting - is a double entendre as it simultaneously refers to Walasse Ting's relationship with his friend, collaborator and mentor Sam Francis, as well as referencing his adoptive country the United States, whose government is colloquially referred to as "Uncle Sam."
(There was, separately, an unsigned edition of 2,000 which collectors are more familiar with; rarely do works from the hand signed edition appear on the market.)
As these can be sold and exhibited as two works, or together as one across one portfolio page, many dealers and collectors separate them; however we have kept them together, with each panel hand signed in pencil by Sam Francis - an extra bonus, as each one could sell for the same price.
This is a true collectors item, from the most desirable and influential era in Pop Art history.
Published by E.W. Kornfeld, Germany, Written by Walasse Ting, Edited by Sam Francis
Provenance: Acquired from original, complete 1 Cent Life Portfolio, # 85/100 (Artists & Collaborators) from the Estate and Collection of Robert Indiana
Frame included:
Elegantly framed in a hand made museum quality frame with UV plexiglass.
Measurements:
Framed:
20.25 x 27 x 1.5 inches
Work:
16 x 22.5 inches
More about the Signed (Deluxe) Edition of 1 Cent Life portfolio
In 1962, the Chinese-American artist Walasse Ting shared his dream project with painter Sam Francis: to create an anthology of his poetry illustrated by leading artists of their time. Over the next two years, Ting and Francis recruited leading Abstract Expressionists and Pop artists—Andy Warhol, Joan Mitchell, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Indiana, James Rosenquist, Mel Ramos, Claes Oldenburg and Roy Lichtenstein, among them, along with the European COBRA artists, like Asger Jorn, Karel Appel and Pierre Alechinsky —to create prints for their collaborative publication, which they playfully titled 1¢ Life. Published in 1964 by E. W. Kornfeld in Switzerland in an edition of 2,000 books, 1¢ Life features 62 color lithographs by a total of 28 iconic artists, including colorful lips by Warhol, abstract splatters by Mitchell, and cartoon girls by Lichtenstein. The accompanying many of these Pop Art prints are the poems of Walasse Ting - racy and avant garde for the early 1960s. The lithography was executed by Maurice Beaudet, of Paris. Complete examples of 1¢ Life can be found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum and many other public and private institutions around the globe. Today, 1 Cent Life is considered one of the best artist's books ever created- coming out of one of the most influential decades in modern art.
Apart from the familiar regular edition of 2000, only 100 of these lithographic portfolios were hand signed by the artists (the Robert Indiana being stamped with his official stamp), and of those only 40 were reserved for Artists and Collaborators, numbered 60 through 100. (The present work, being # 85/100)
Most lithographs are printed on two separate pages. This famed portfolio was produced and assembled by Chinese-American-European artist Walasse Ting in conjunction with American artist Sam Francis, Swiss publisher E.W. Kornfeld, and French printer Maurice Beaudet - a truly global endeavor. The portfolio, featuring some of the most recognizable lithographs of the era, was the result of an unprecedented, ambitious international collaboration between American Pop Artists of the Sixties and the European COBRA artists.
About Sam Francis:
For Sam Francis, exploring the creative process was his driving force. It impacted not only his art, but his view of human progress.
One of the twentieth century’s most profound Abstract Expressionists, American artist Sam Francis (1923-1994) is noted as one of the first post-World War II painters to develop an international reputation. Francis created thousands of paintings as well as works on paper, prints and monotypes, housed in major museum collections and institutions around the world. Regarded as one of the leading interpreters of color and light, his work holds references to New York abstract expressionism, color field painting, Chinese and Japanese art, French impressionism and his own Bay Area roots.
After graduating from Cal Berkeley in 1950 with a degree in art, Francis moved to Paris, where he would go on to be named by Time Magazine as, “the hottest American painter in Paris these days.” A transformative period of his career, Francis immersed himself in a study of Monet’s Water Lilies and was influenced by his close friendships with the Matisse family and artists Al Held, Joan Mitchell, and Jean-Paul Riopelle.
For the next four decades he traveled and studied extensively, maintaining studios in Bern, Paris, Tokyo, Mexico City, New York and Northern and Southern California. Through his travels he was exposed to many styles, techniques and cultural influences, which informed the development of his own dialogue and style of painting. Francis possessed a lyrical and gestural hand, enabling him to capture and record the brilliance, energy and intensity of color at different moments of time and periods of his life. His paintings embody his love of literature, music and science, while reflecting his deep range of emotions and personal turmoil.
Not only are Francis’s paintings valued historically for their aesthetic vision, but his inquisitive mind and spirit have solidified Francis’s legacy as a contemporary renaissance man. His interest in the creative process was expansive and synergistic – art, technology, psychology, science, medicine, and protecting the environment (before it became a movement). He was an early investor in research to find creative solutions to our dependence on non-renewable energy sources and cures for AIDs. In each of these realms, he explored the nature of creativity – what stimulates it, the importance of testing new ideas through experimentation as well as the roles of imagination, intuition and knowledge.
Much like Francis believed his life was a series of ongoing challenges, the Sam Francis Foundation is dedicated to expanding his sense of wonder – his freedom to explore – his mantra to dream – his life force to be creative...
- Courtesy of Sam Francis Foundation
- Creator:Sam Francis (1923–1994, American)
- Creation Year:1964
- Dimensions:Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)Width: 22.5 in (57.15 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1745213383822
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