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Sam Francis

American, 1923-1994

Sam Francis was an American artist known for his exuberantly colorful, large-scale abstract paintings. His practice incorporated elements from Abstract Expressionism, Color Field painting, Impressionism and Eastern philosophy to create a unique style of painterly abstraction.

Influenced by Jackson Pollock and Clyfford Still, Francis is more closely associated to the work of Helen Frankenthaler, as he was more interested in the formal arrangement of the picture plane than the expressivity of the individual artist. “Painting is about the beauty of space and the power of containment,” Francis once reflected.

Born on June 25, 1923 in San Mateo, California, Francis briefly served in the US Air Force during World War II but was injured during a test flight. Returning to California, he received his BA and MA from UC Berkeley in botany and psychology before beginning to pursue a career in art. The artist traveled widely during his career, and he was closely aligned with the Art Informel movement while living abroad in Paris during the 1950s.

Francis died on November 4, 1994 in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 71. He was a founding trustee of Los Angeles’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and his paintings can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Kunstmuseum Basel, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, among others.

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Average Sold Price
$3,392
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Materials
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Swatch : Color Explosion - Original lithograph (Mourlot, 1992)
By Sam Francis
Located in Paris, IDF
Sam FRANCIS Color explosion, 1992 Original lithograph Unsigned On Arches vellum 86.5 x 29.5 cm Numbered on the back Authenticated by Moulot blind stamp INFORMATION : Edited by Gale...
Category

1990s American Modern Sam Francis

Materials

Lithograph

Deluxe Hand Signed & Numbered 25/30 Cat: Lembark 155 Carnegie Museum lithograph
By Sam Francis
Located in New York, NY
Sam Francis Untitled Abstract Expressionist lithograph (Hand Signed from the Carnegie Museum Deluxe Edition), 1972 Catalogue Raisonné: 155, Lembark Hand signed and numbered 25/30 on...
Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis

Materials

Lithograph

Sam Francis, Karel Appel & Walasse Ting, lithographs, hand signed, 85/100 Framed
By Sam Francis
Located in New York, NY
Sam Francis, Karel Appel and Walasse TIng Signed Sam Francis lihograph, with signed prints by Karel Appel and Walasse Ting verso, from the Estate of Robert Indiana, 1964 Two-sided co...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled (SF-348) (Fresh Air School) /// Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis Art
By Sam Francis
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Sam Francis (American, 1923-1994) Title: "Untitled (SF-348) (Fresh Air School)" Portfolio: Fresh Air School *Unsigned edition Year: 1972 Medium: Original Lithograph on white ...
Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled, 1963 (SF63-039)
By Sam Francis
Located in Greenwich, CT
Untitled (SF63-039) is an acrylic painting on paper, with an image size of 41 x 27.5 inches, signed 'Sam Francis' verso, and framed in a contemporary light wood frame. Untitled, 196...
Category

20th Century Abstract Sam Francis

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Untitled, 1963 (SF63-039)
Untitled, 1963 (SF63-039)
$98,500
H 46.25 in W 32.75 in
Untitled (SF64-048)
By Sam Francis
Located in London, GB
From the series Blue Balls, (1960-63). This series preoccupied Francis for a number of years, and as William C. Agee pointed out, are rooted in his threatened physical body. Again, t...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis

Materials

Acrylic

SF 89-153.
By Sam Francis
Located in Malmo, SE
Artwork size: 67 x 51 cm. Frame size: 112 x 97 cm. Free shipment worldwide. Archive number SF 89-153 in the Sam Francis Foundation. Stamped with the Sam Francis Estate logo and stamped signature on verso. Sam Francis’s paintings are a journey into a dream, a voyage into the landscapes of the soul where colours are lights on fire. Alongside names such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline, Sam Francis is an artist who has succeeded in demonstrating a total mastery of abstract expressionism’s impassioned and spontaneous genre. The explosions of colour – red, blue, green and yellow – the streaks, strokes and bold lines of his pictures are the physical synthesis of the deepest crevices of the soul. His colours create rhythmical motifs that, characteristically enough, can be called the “musicality” of his paintings. The work of Sam Francis provides a visible meeting place for the conscious and the unconscious. His pictures are the cross-fertilisation of what has already been experienced with what exists still only as desire, a struggle between melancholy and merrymaking. Influenced by C.G. Jung, the father of psychoanalysis, Sam Francis spent a large portion of his life exploring the premise that dreams, instincts and intuition provide, the keys which unlock the mysteries and meaning of our inner lives. He was also fascinated by the four ancient elements – earth, water, air and fire – which developed into a leitmotif in his work. Sam Francis was born in San Mateo in California, USA in 1923. After starting to paint at the age of around twenty, he soon found himself increasingly consumed by the power of art. He spent much of the 1950s in Paris, from where he not only made frequent excursions to a number of European cities, but also embarked on many journeys to South America and Asia. He continued to move from place to place, primarily in the USA and Japan, right up until his death in 1994. Sam Francis’s first...
Category

1980s Contemporary Sam Francis

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

SF 89-153.
SF 89-153.
$99,787
H 44.1 in W 38.19 in
Untitled (SF-355), Abstract Expressionist Lithograph by Sam Francis
By Sam Francis
Located in Long Island City, NY
Sam Francis, American (1923 - 1994) - Untitled (SF-355), Portfolio: Papierski Portfolio, Year: 1992, Medium: Lithograph on BFK Rives, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 50...
Category

1990s Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis

Materials

Lithograph

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Sam Francis Sale Prices

Sold DateSold PriceCategoryMediumCreation Year
2025$3,850More Art, Abstract PrintsLithograph, Color Print1971
2025$168Prints and MultiplesOffset Print2004
2025$285Abstract PrintsLithograph1992
2025$6,750Abstract PrintsLithograph1973
2025$318Abstract PrintsLithograph1992
2025$6,127Prints and Multiples, Abstract PrintsLithograph1992
2025$8,000Abstract Prints, Prints and MultiplesLithograph1980
2025$10,000Abstract PrintsLithograph, Offset Print1983
2025$94Prints and MultiplesScreen Print2002
2025$800Abstract PrintsLithograph1964
2025$4,900Abstract PrintsLithograph1964
2025$1,295Abstract PrintsLithograph1969
2025$4,400Abstract PrintsLithograph1992
2024$500Abstract PrintsPaper1984
$3,392
Average sold price of items in the past 12 months
$94-$10,000
Sold price range of items in the past 12 months

Artists Similar to Sam Francis

Sam Francis art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Sam Francis art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue, purple, orange and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Sam Francis in lithograph, etching, aquatint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Sam Francis art, so small editions measuring 6 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Robert Motherwell, Paul Jenkins, and Theodoros Stamos. Sam Francis art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $70 and tops out at $950,000, while the average work can sell for $8,000.

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