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Sam Francis

About

California-born abstract expressionist painter Sam Francis (1923–1994), is regarded as one of the 20th century’s leading interpreters of light and color. Sam Francis maintained studios in Bern, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo, making him the first post–World War II American painter whose reach was truly international. Throughout a long and prolific career, Francis created thousands of paintings as well as works on paper, prints, and monotypes. His work holds references to New York abstract expressionism, color field painting, Chinese and Japanese art, French impressionism, and his own Bay Area roots.

Fairs, Events & Announcements

Installation view, A line (a)round an idea: Selected Works on Paper, Gagosian, Geneva, May 2–July 27, 2019. Artwork, left to right: © Cy Twombly Foundation; © 2019 Richard Artschwager/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © 2019 The Franz Kline Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © Richard Serra; © 2019 Dedalus Foundation, Inc./Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Tour

A line (a)round an idea
Selected Works on Paper

Saturday, June 22, 2019, 11am
Gagosian, Geneva

This event has been canceled.

Join us for a tour of A line (a)round an idea at Gagosian, Geneva. The exhibition, which presents black-and-white works on paper spanning a period of seventy years, includes work by Richard Artschwager, Georg Baselitz, Bruce Conner, Willem de Kooning, Günther Förg, Sam Francis, Keith Haring, Christine Hiebert, Hans Hofmann, Franz Kline, Brice Marden, Henri Matisse, Robert Motherwell, Ad Reinhardt, Richard Serra, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, and others. Gagosian’s Johan Nauckhoff will give an overview of the exhibition, focusing on ways in which modern and contemporary artists have explored the clarity and activating power of the simple line, mark, splatter, or stroke. To attend the free event, RSVP to genevatours@gagosian.com. Space is limited.

Installation view, A line (a)round an idea: Selected Works on Paper, Gagosian, Geneva, May 2–July 27, 2019. Artwork, left to right: © Cy Twombly Foundation; © 2019 Richard Artschwager/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © 2019 The Franz Kline Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © Richard Serra; © 2019 Dedalus Foundation, Inc./Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Tom Wesselmann, Smoker #11, 1973 © The Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by VAGA, New York

Art Fair

Art Basel Miami Beach 2017

December 7–10, 2017, booth D7
Miami Beach Convention Center
www.artbasel.com

Gagosian is pleased to participate in Art Basel Miami Beach 2017, presenting a selection of works by modern and contemporary artists including:

Richard Artschwager, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cecily Brown, Glenn Brown, John Chamberlain, Dan Colen, John Currin, Urs Fischer, Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler, Katharina Grosse, Mark Grotjahn, Andreas Gursky, Damien Hirst, Alex Israel, Neil Jenney, Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, Harmony Korine, Roy Lichtenstein, Brice Marden, Adam McEwen, Takashi Murakami, Albert Oehlen, Pablo Picasso, Richard Prince, Sterling Ruby, Ed Ruscha, Jenny Saville, Frank Stella, Rudolf Stingel, Mark Tansey, Robert Therrien, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Mary Weatherford, Tom Wesselmann, and Christopher Wool.

Tickets are available at www.artbasel.com.

Tom Wesselmann, Smoker #11, 1973 © The Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by VAGA, New York

Museum Exhibitions

Simon Hantaï, Festmény, c. 1950, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest © Archives Simon Hantaï/ADAGP, Paris, 2023. Photo: © Szépművészeti Múzeum

Closed

Hantaï, Klee és más absztrakciók

December 7, 2022–April 16, 2023
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
www.mfab.hu

This exhibition, whose title translates to Hantaï, Klee, and Other Abstractions, pays tribute to Simon Hantaï, who was born in Hungary a hundred years ago and attained international fame while living in France. Through more than sixty works by Hantaï, including twenty-four previously unseen, and eight gifted to the museum by the artist’s family, the exhibition explores the sources of inspiration he drew on during his years in Paris between 1948 and 1952. The show also presents works by Sam Francis, Paul Klee, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, and Jackson Pollock, among others—all of whom were influential figures for Hantaï.

Simon Hantaï, Festmény, c. 1950, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest © Archives Simon Hantaï/ADAGP, Paris, 2023. Photo: © Szépművészeti Múzeum