Very First Stone

Sam FrancisWW-1959-078344

1959·Lithograph on white wove paper·80 × 57.5 cm (31 1/2 × 22 11/16 in.)

<p>Francis drew his first lithographs for Tatyana Grosman in 1959, while he was living in a New York studio rented from Larry Rivers, the first artist invited to work at U.L.A.E. After the stones were drawn, they were taken to the workshop on Long Island for proofing. Francis, matching Grosman's slow deliberation was in no hurry to release the prints, and they had not arrived at a solution when Francis left New York early in 1960. Subsequently, Francis made his first released lithographs at Emil Matthieu's workshop in Zurich. Their success made him a committed printmaker.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1959
Medium: Lithograph on white wove paper
Dimensions: 80 × 57.5 cm (31 1/2 × 22 11/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Sam Francis

Artist

Sam Francis

Painting

Born in San Mateo, California, in 1923, Sam Francis served in the US Air Force corps during World War II, later earning degrees in psychology and botany at UC Berkeley. Moving to Paris in the 1950s, he encountered Monet’s Waterlilies, which proved lastingly influential to his art’s scale and sensitivity to light, color, and abstract art. The artist also traveled extensively – to Tokyo, Mexico City, and New York to name a few – and became familiar with non-Western philosophy. His work evolved from monochromatic abstractions to rich chromatic murals to his iconic “open” paintings: in which vividly hued splashes and drips of color are punctuated by expanses of white. These abstract expressionist paintings became synonymous with Francis’s work, as the movement came to be defined alongside him.

Paris, France and Santa Monica, USA

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