Sam Francis

2 Jun - 30 July 2005

Sam Francis (1923-1994) occupies a prominent position in post-war American painting. This retrospective exhibition comprised paintings and works on paper.

A native and long-term resident of California, Sam Francis nevertheless travelled extensively, spending long periods of his life in Paris and Tokyo. His art can be seen as a fusion of artistic tendencies: the gestural energy and vast spaces of American Abstract Expressionism of Pollock and Rothko; the great French tradition of colour and light exemplified in the works of Cezanne, Matisse and Monet; and the spiritual quality of Oriental art. Dripping, biomorphic shapes circulate freely around his canvases, reflecting his interest in ceaseless instability.