2023 marks the centennial of Sam Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994). We celebrate the 100th anniversary of Francis’s birthday and his continued creative legacy through exhibitions, educational events, special projects, articles, and archival explorations. We invite scholars, colleagues, artists, institutions, and historians to explore their relationship with Francis, his art, his creative legacy, and his inspiration.
Upcoming Exhibitions
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents Sam Francis and Japan: Emptiness Overflowing, the first exhibition to explore the practice of American artist Sam Francis (1923-1994) in relation to historic and contemporary Japanese art and aesthetics. April 9-July 16, 2023.
Upcoming Exhibitions
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents Sam Francis and Japan: Emptiness Overflowing, the first exhibition to explore the practice of American artist Sam Francis (1923-1994) in relation to historic and contemporary Japanese art and aesthetics. April 9-July 16, 2023.
Archive Connection
Throughout the course of the year we will be highlighting new writing and explorations of the expansive creative community Francis participated and fostered. A place to see new connections and archival treasures.
The Space of Effusion: Sam Francis in Japan
Richard Speer
Edited and with a foreword by Debra Burchett-Lere
Written by art critic and curator Richard Speer, the first full-length monograph to explore an important but sometimes overlooked milieu in Post-World War II art—a dialogue between Eastern and Western sensibilities that prefigured our current era of global interconnectedness and cross-cultural exchange. Lavishly illustrated with color plates and archival images, it is an adjunct publication for the related exhibition Sam Francis and Japan: Emptiness Overflowing, co-curated by Speer.
The Space of Effusion: Sam Francis in Japan
Richard Speer
Edited and with a foreword by Debra Burchett-Lere
Written by art critic and curator Richard Speer, the first full-length monograph to explore an important but sometimes overlooked milieu in Post-World War II art—a dialogue between Eastern and Western sensibilities that prefigured our current era of global interconnectedness and cross-cultural exchange. Lavishly illustrated with color plates and archival images, it is an adjunct publication for the related exhibition Sam Francis and Japan: Emptiness Overflowing, co-curated by Speer.
Light on Fire: The Art and Life of Sam Francis
Gabrielle Selz
The first in-depth biography of the artist.
Published by UC Press in October 2021
A revelatory and groundbreaking biography of Sam Francis, one of the 20th century’s most celebrated artists, and the American painter who brought the vocabulary of abstract expressionism to Paris. Drawing on exclusive interviews and private correspondence, Gabrielle Selz traces the extraordinary life of this complex and charismatic artist who first learned to paint as a former air-corps pilot encased for three years in a full-body cast.