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Blue on a Point Towards Disappearance

Title	Blue on a Point Towards Disappearance
Artist	サム・フランシス　Sam FRANCIS
Date	1958
Medium	oil on canvas
Dimensions	182.8×238.7
Classification	Paintings
Accession Number	FO199300003000
Summary	Sam Francis was one of the second generation Abstract Expressionist painters. Jackson Pollock was one of the first generation artists of this school and is known for his development of the pouring technique in which paints are splashed directly onto the canvas. Pollock's influence can be felt in this work where pigments have been splashed in all directions, flying across the pure white canvas ground. Francis's works from the first half of the 1950s preserve the "alloverness" which is one of the compositional traits of Abstract Expressionism. But here that quality has been lost as the subject is clearly separate from its ground, seemingly floating as an abstract form above the blank white space. There is a great deal of blank space left in the work, and the dripping and splashing painting method are both clearly influenced by Japanese art. Seemingly one scene from the cosmic drama, the birth of form and color in a limitless expanse, their growth, and finally their disappearance.

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Native place	San Mateo, USA
Birth	1923
Dead place	Santa Monica, USA
Died	1994
Biography	Born in San Mateo, California. Francis entered the University of California Berkeley in 1941 where he first majored in Botany, turning later to Psychology and Pharmacology. During World War II he entered the Air Force and was wounded, and he began to paint as he convalesced from his wounds. He re-entered college after the war and studied both art history and art techniques, and he was heavily influenced by Abstract Expressionism during this period. In 1950 he traveled to Paris and there became closely connected to the lnformel painters. In 1956 he created a triptych mural panels for the Kunsthalle Basel. The following year he set out on an around the world journey, creating a mural at the Sogetsu Kaikan in Tokyo during these travels. He then visited Japan frequently after that initial visit, and as seen in his works, Francis took in many artistic inspirations from traditional Japanese art, such as the use of “tarashikomi” ink puddling and the use of negative space in paintings. Francis created a large number of lithographs after the 1960s.

Blue on a Point Towards Disappearance

Sam FRANCIS