Sam Francis Foundation

Thank you to everyone who joined us in the zoom discussion on The Space of Effusion: Sam Francis in Japan last week with Richard Speer and Jennifer Sudul Edwards. We are happy to announce that the entire conversation is now available to view on samfrancisfoundation.org, at the link below, and on our YouTube channel. We had the pleasure of seeing and hearing from viewers from all over the world and look forward to the next zoom conference in June with Richard Speer, sponsored by LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

We are thrilled to announce the opening of the online exhibition SAM FRANCIS SPACE & CONTAINMENT, at Galerie Ludorff. More information reposted from Galerie Ludorff: "Painting is about the beauty of space and the power of containment".... On view from FEBRUARY 19 APRIL 24, 2021Galerie Ludorff, Artsy and artnet From the above quote by the American artist Sam Francis, we drew inspiration for the title of our current online exhibition. The show illustrates the artist's great interest in the pictorial space and the overcoming of physical and intellectual limitations and the aim to expand the possibilities of painting in his time. Throughout his life, Francis was interested in creating tension and in releasing or concentrating mental energy. Against the background of the current crisis, his works seem to be more relevant than ever and they show how being contained in a space may release extremely positive energies. Despite the exhibitions clear focus on the early works up to 1964, we are happy to provide an overview of the artists development over the course of 40 years. So make sure to check out our website www.ludorff.com for a stunning firework of colors! On view: Sam Francis, Composition in Red, Blue and Yellow, ca. 1960, Gouache on paper, 13,5x14cm @sam_francis_foundation, California / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021

*25% off Lapis Press books in the Sam Francis Foundation Bookstore* As part of their goal in producing noteworthy and timely texts in visually stunning formats, Sam Francis’s Lapis Press released Immeasurable Distances: The Collected Essays by Harry Mathews, 1991. Lapis Press was founded by Francis in 1984 and in collaboration with significant contemporary artists published many books; many of which will be shared here in the coming weeks. This collection of essays by Harry Mathews is now available to purchase at shop.samfrancisfoundation.org, including special limited edition numbered and signed copies, as seen here.

Love this photo!

Warm Winter Greetings from the Sam Francis Foundation! We are looking forward to a world of dreams filled with color and light in the coming year. ... Sam Francis painted images with words as well as pigments. His writings, which took the form of aphorisms, poetry, dream memories, and prose, have been instrumental in the way his artistic outpourings have been viewed over the years. Evoking moods and emotional musings, they form the creative thread between his paintings and his thoughts about the soul, spirit, and art. It was Sam’s fate to live an artist’s life in all its complexities, mediating between divine inspiration and human existence. The straddling of these two realms often produced the friction that prompted Sam to create. Nancy Mozur, from Cobalt Blue. Sam Francis, all dreams are in us prophetic!, gouache on paper, 1961, 74.93 x 105.41 cm (29 1/2 x 41 1/2 in.), Collection Kiki Kogelnik Foundation.

*25% off Lapis Press books in the Sam Francis Foundation Bookstore* As part of their goal in producing noteworthy and timely texts in visually stunning formats, Sam Francis’s Lapis Press released Immeasurable Distances: The Collected Essays by Harry Mathews, 1991. Lapis Press was founded by Francis in 1984 and in collaboration with significant contemporary artists published many books; many of which will be shared here in the coming weeks. This collection of essays by Harry Mathews is now available to purchase at shop.samfrancisfoundation.org, including special limited edition numbered and signed copies, as seen here.

Love this photo!

Happy New Year! Read at the link below for more on Tiana Williams, the selected Inaugural Sam Francis Media Fellow. Great start to 2021!

Warm Winter Greetings from the Sam Francis Foundation! We are looking forward to a world of dreams filled with color and light in the coming year. ... Sam Francis painted images with words as well as pigments. His writings, which took the form of aphorisms, poetry, dream memories, and prose, have been instrumental in the way his artistic outpourings have been viewed over the years. Evoking moods and emotional musings, they form the creative thread between his paintings and his thoughts about the soul, spirit, and art. It was Sam’s fate to live an artist’s life in all its complexities, mediating between divine inspiration and human existence. The straddling of these two realms often produced the friction that prompted Sam to create. Nancy Mozur, from Cobalt Blue. Sam Francis, all dreams are in us prophetic!, gouache on paper, 1961, 74.93 x 105.41 cm (29 1/2 x 41 1/2 in.), Collection Kiki Kogelnik Foundation.

In October 2020, 18th Street Arts Center and the Sam Francis Foundation were thrilled to announce Call to Dream: The Sam Francis Fellowship, an ongoing artist residency exchange between Los Angeles and three other cities foundational to the artist Sam Francis’s development: Tokyo, Mexico City, and Paris. An update and more information on the artist residency exchange can be found at the link to NEWS here and 18thstreet.org/samfrancisfellowship.