Sam Francis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
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.
Find authentic Sam Francis art today on 1stDibs.
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Artist: Sam Francis
Sklye by Sam Francis - Painting, Acrylic, Abstract Art
By Sam Francis
Located in London, GB
*PLEASE NOTE UK BUYERS WILL ONLY PAY 5% VAT ON THIS PURCHASE.
Sklye by Sam Francis (1923-1994)
Acrylic on paper
14.6 x 10.2 cm (5 ³/₄ x 4 inches)
Signed, Sam Francis and dated on th...
Category
1980s Abstract Sam Francis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Acrylic
Untitled SF50-001
By Sam Francis
Located in London, GB
Sam Francis (1923-1994) was an American abstract painter, born in San Mateo, California. He turned to painting in the aftermath of World War II whilst recovering from severe injuries...
Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Egg Tempera
Untitled SF74-863
By Sam Francis
Located in London, GB
In the 1970s, the beginning of a new phase in Francis’ career was defined by the emergence of the ‘color blotches’. These spots of gritty, shimmering color were made through glazes, ...
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Acrylic
Untitled (SF64-121)
By Sam Francis
Located in London, GB
Sam Francis
Untitled (SF64-121)
1964
Gouache and oil on paper
69.9 x 104.4 cms (27 1/2 x 41 1/8 ins)
SF14605
Exhibited:
New York, 'Chamberlain/Francis', Van Doren Waxter, July 11- ...
Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gouache
Untitled (#2 Pri-Rain) (SF64-592)
By Sam Francis
Located in London, GB
Sam Francis
Untitled (#2 Pri-Rain) (SF64-592)
1964
Gouache on paper
57.2 x 75.6 cms (22 1/2 x 29 3/4 ins)
Frame size: 82.9 x 103.2 cms (32 5/8 x 40 5/8 ins)
SF14652
$300,000
Exhibit...
Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gouache
Composition in Red
By Sam Francis
Located in London, GB
Sam Francis
Composition in Red
c. 1960
Gouache on paper
52.5 x 24.5 cms (20 11/16 x 9 11/16 ins)
SF14434
$125,000
Exhibited:
Bernard Jacobson Gall...
Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gouache
Untitled SF64-572 (Acrylic Watercolour)
By Sam Francis
Located in London, GB
SAM FRANCIS 1923-1994
San Mateo, California 1923 – 1994 Santa Monica (American)
Title: Untitled SF64-572 (Acrylic Watercolour), 1964
Technique: Signed and Dated Acrylic and Waterco...
Category
1960s Sam Francis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Watercolor
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Previously Available Items
SF 85-311
By Sam Francis
Located in Malmo, SE
Artwork size: 35 x 49 cm.
Frame size: 60 x 75 cm.
Free shipment worldwide.
Archive number SF 85-311 in the Sam Francis Foundation.
Signed by the artist.
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1980s Contemporary Sam Francis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Untitled, No. 35
By Sam Francis
Located in New York, NY
Sam Francis
Untitled, No. 35, 1963
Gouache on paper
4.50h x 5.40w in
Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gouache
SF 85-806.
By Sam Francis
Located in Malmo, SE
Estate stamped
Size without frame : 30x24 cm.
Free shipment worldwide.
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Abstract Sam Francis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
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Acrylic
SF 66-111
By Sam Francis
Located in Malmo, SE
Artwork size: 79 x 55 cm.
Frame size: 109 x 84 cm.
Free shipment worldwide.
Archive number SF66-111 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...
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Sam Francis drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Sam Francis drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of drawings and watercolor paintings to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of purple and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Sam Francis in paint, watercolor, gouache 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 drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Robert Motherwell, Katherine Porter, and Seymour Lipton. Sam Francis drawings and watercolor paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $15,000 and tops out at $400,000, while the average work can sell for $94,561.