Bright Nothing

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