Sam Francis

Francis, Sam, 1923–94, American painter, b. San Mateo, Calif. Educated in medicine, Francis began painting while recovering from an injury received in World War II. His mural-sized paintings are stained with brilliant, transparent oil color. Small areas of color are concentrated irregularly over a canvas that is largely white. In his later works the use of color is confined to the sides of the canvas.

See catalogue raisonné ed. by D. Burchett-Lere (2011).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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