Francis’s world was expansive and international. Within the artist’s extensive archives exists a galaxy of historical paths connecting so many others. As we see in-depth in the new publication by Richard Speer, Sam Francis in Japan just released this month, the artist influenced and was influenced by so many from Japan, France, Switzerland, Mexico, and all over the US. He counted many talented people as friends, colleagues and family. In an effort to see how his history intersected with so many others we have begun a new initiative called the Archive Connection. Each one of our staff has selected an important person from Francis’s archives and expanded that information into small essays. Our goal is to promote the exploration of historical figures that have not otherwise been given larger platforms. We also hope that researchers and historians will be introduced to the scope of Francis’s archives.

In our premier essay Leila Elliott has investigated the artist Shirley Jaffe. We hope you will enjoy this first installment and look forward to many more.