- published: 19 Jul 2010
- views: 754
Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923, San Mateo, California – November 4, 1994, Santa Monica, California) was an American painter and printmaker.
He was born in San Mateo, California, and studied botany, medicine and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He served in the United States Air Force during World War II before being injured during test flight maneuvers. He was in the hospital for several years, and it was while there, after being visited by artist David Park in 1945, that he began to paint. Once out of the hospital he returned to Berkeley, this time to study art.
Francis was initially influenced by the work of abstract expressionists such as Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky and Clyfford Still. He spent the 1950s in Paris, having his first exhibition there in 1952. While there he became associated with Tachisme. He later spent time in Japan, and some have seen an influence from Zen Buddhism in his work.
Francis spent some time in Paris executing entirely monochromatic works, but his mature pieces are generally large oil paintings with splashed or splattered areas of bright contrasting color, with areas of white canvas left to show through. Francis painted large murals for the Kunsthalle, Basel in 1956-8 and for the Chase Manhattan Bank, New York in 1959. In the early 1960s, Francis began his "Edge" series in which paint is sometimes confined to the margins of the canvas.
Actors: Ayanna Fullilove (actress), William Michals (producer), Michael Flees (producer), Michael Flees (director), Michael Flees (writer), Ismail Abdul-Aziz (actor), Tyrell Adams (actor), Nick Higgins (actor), Tyrell Adams (producer), Nick Higgins (producer), Thomas Rowland (actor), Carita Williams (actress), Roderick Casey (actor), Nicholas Flees (actor), Will Burkett (actor),
Genres: Drama, History, Short,