Sam Francis: Abridged Biography with Solo Exhibitions
- by © Debra Burchett-Lere, Sam Francis Foundation

1923–1942
Samuel Lewis Francis is born on 25 June 1923 in San Mateo, California, USA to Katherine Lewis Francis and Samuel Augustus Francis, Sr.

Birth of his brother, George Conant Francis (1926).

Death of his mother when Francis is twelve (1935).

1943–1945
A plane accident during Army Air Corps flight training as well as progressing illness hospitalizes him for years (1943).

Begins painting while lying prone in his hospital bed (1945).

1946–1950
Paints and studies in the San Francisco area, California.

Receives his BA degree (1949) and MA degree (1950) from University of California, Berkeley.

Marries and divorces high school girlfriend Vera Miller.

1950–1958
Lives and works primarily in Paris and the south of France with working periods in Mexico City, Tokyo, Bern, and New York.

Marries and divorces California painter Muriel Goodwin.

1952
Championed by art critics Michel Tapié and Claude Duthuit (son-in-law of the painter Henri Matisse) in Paris.

First solo exhibition at:
-Galerie Nina Dausset, Paris.

1955
Solo exhibition at Galerie Rive Droite, Paris.

1956
Included in "12 Americans" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Solo exhibitions at:
-Galerie Rive Droite, Paris.
-Zoe Dusanne Gallery, Seattle.
-Martha Jackson Gallery, New York.
-Galerie Ad Libitum, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Time Magazine describes Francis as "the hottest American painter in Paris these days.”

1957
Travels to Japan and paints a mural for the Sogetsu School, Tokyo.

Solo exhibitions at:
-Zoe Dusanne Gallery, Seattle.
-Gimpel Fils, Ltd., London.

1958–1959
Included in “The New American Painting” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York with portrait by Irving Penn for Vogue featuring Francis with artists: Jack Tworkov, Barnett Newman, Theodoros Stamos, James Brooks, Franz Kline, Philip Guston, William Baziotes.

Rents additional studio in New York City and begins work on Chase Manhattan Bank Mural.

Solo exhibitions at:
-Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, California; travels to San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle.

Marries Japanese painter Teruko Yokoi; birth of their daughter, Kayo.

1960–1966
Lives and works in Paris and then in Bern during another period of hospitalization in 1961. After release from hospital moves back to California, first staying in Santa Barbara and then Santa Monica.

Solo exhibitions at:
-Kunsthalle, Bern; travels to Moderna Museet, Stockholm.
-Minami Gallery, Tokyo.
-Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern.
-Galerie Benador, Zurich.
-Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara.

Group exhibition at Documenta III, Kassel, Germany (Basel Mural Triptych panels are shown).

Purchases property and designs new studio on West Channel Road, Santa Monica which becomes his permanent home base.

Maintains the Arcueil studio in Paris until it is razed in 1983.

Divorces Teruko Yokoi.

Creates "sky painting" performance over Tokyo Bay, Japan.

Marries Japanese filmmaker Mako Idemitsu; birth of their son, Osamu (1966) in Santa Monica

1967
Solo exhibitions at:
-Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York.
-Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; travels to: University Art Museum, Berkeley.

Creates another environmental performance work: "snow painting" in Naibara, Japan.

1968
Receives honorary Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley.

Solo exhibitions at:
-Centre National d' Art Contemporain, Paris.
-Kunsthalle Basel.
-Minami Gallery, Tokyo.

1969–1972
Birth of Francis’s third child, Shingo (1969) in Santa Monica.

Creates mural-sized canvas, Berlin Red for the National Gallery of Art, West Berlin.

Solo exhibitions at:
-André Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles.
-Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.
-Martha Jackson Gallery, New York.
-Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles.

Establishes The Litho Shop, Inc. to print and publish his own limited edition prints.

Maintains a variety of studios in the southern California area (Santa Monica and Venice) through 1994.

1972–1973
Solo exhibitions at:
-Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; travels to: Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Texas; Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, California.
-Stanford University Museum of Art.

1973–1974
Lives and works primarily in Tokyo.

Solo exhibitions at:
-Idemitsu Art Museum, Tokyo.
-Minami Gallery, Tokyo.

1975–1977
Solo exhibitions at:
-Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles.
-Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
-André Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago.
-Galerie Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern.
-Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California.

The monograph, Sam Francis, by Peter Selz is published by Harry N. Abrams (1975).

In California begins series of collaborations on monotypes with Garner Tullis.

1977–1979
Solo exhibitions at:
-Louisiana Museum of Art, Humlebaek, Denmark; portions of exhibition travels to: Centre Pompidou, Paris; Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, and Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
-Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles.
-Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles.
-Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts; travels to: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Korea, Japan under the U.S. International Communication Agency.
-Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
-André Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Brooke Alexander, New York.

1980
Solo exhibitions at:
-Abbaye de Senanque, Gordes, France.
-Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.
-Riko Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles.
-James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles.
-Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California.

Divorces Mako Idemitsu.

Elected to Board of Trustees at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

1981
Solo exhibitions at:
-André Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Ace Gallery, Los Angeles.
-Ruth Schaffner Gallery, Santa Barbara, California.

Establishes temporary painting studio in San Leandro, California to paint larger murals.

1982
Solo exhibitions at:
-André Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo.
-Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago.

1983
Completion of mural for the San Francisco Airport.

Solo exhibitions at:
-André Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Galerie Kornfeld, Bern.
-Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California.
-Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence, France.
-Studio Marconi, Milan.
-Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.
-Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
-John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco.
-Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo.

Receives prestigious "Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" from France.

1984
In California forms the Lapis Press to publish books.

Solo exhibitions at:
-André Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Cantor/Lemberg Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan.
-Robert Elkon Gallery, New York.
-Knoedler Gallery, London.

1985
Solo exhibitions at:
-Galerie Kornfeld, Bern.
-Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
-Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo.
-Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago.

Completion of mural for the San Francisco Museum of Art.

Marries English painter Margaret Smith in Japan.

1986
Solo exhibitions at:
-André Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
-Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo.

Completion of commissioned ceiling mural for the Opera National, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels, Belgium.

Birth of Francis’s fourth child, Augustus in Santa Monica.

Acquires studio space in Palo Alto, California and maintains working studios in Santa Monica.

1987
Solo exhibitions at:
-Knoedler Gallery, London.
-Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara, California.
-Heland Thorden Wetterling Galleries, Stockholm.
-Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles.
-Galerie Pudelko, Bonn.

Begins working in Venice, California studio.

1988
Solo exhibitions at:
-André Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
-Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo.
-Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California.
-Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri.
-Galerie de Seoul, South Korea.
-Toyama Museum, Toyama, Japan; travels to: The Museum of Modern Art, Seibu Takanawa, Karuizawa; The Museum of Modern Art, Shiga; Ohara Museum of Art; Murashiki, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo.

1989
Solo exhibitions at:
-Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
-Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London.
-Linda Farris Gallery, Seattle.
-Knoedler Gallery, London.

Works in Moss Farm studio near Manchester, England.

1990
Solo exhibitions at:
-Associated American Artists, New York.
-Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam.
-Heland Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm.
-Ogawa Art Foundation, Tokyo.
-Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh.

Acquires properties and rents studios in northern California at Pt. Reyes Station. Still maintains several working studios in Santa Monica, Palo Alto, and Venice, California.

1991
Solo exhibitions at:
-Galerie Kornfeld, Bern.
-Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
-James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles.
-Gagosian Gallery, New York.
-Centre Regional d'Art Contemporain Midi-Pyrenees, Toulouse-Labege, France.

1992
Solo exhibitions at:
-Galerie Daniel Papierski, Paris.
-Museum van der Togt, Amsterdam.
-Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

Publication of The Prints of Sam Francis: A Catalogue Raisonné by Connie Lembark, published by Hudson Hills Press.

1993
Solo exhibitions at:
-Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, Germany.
-Galerie Pudelko, Bonn.
-Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Venice, California.
-Michel Cohen Gallery, New York.
-Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho.
-Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles.
-Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland.
-The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Major painting commissioned for the German Parliament building, Bonn.

Donation of ten paintings to The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

1994
Solo exhibitions at:
-Long Fine Art, New York.
-Galerie Delaive at the Museum Jan van der Togt, Amstelveen, Netherlands.
-Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Venice, California.
-Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
-Galerie Proarta, Zurich.
-Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo.
-Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago.
-University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley.
-Galerie Kornfeld, Bern.

Receives the "Distinguished Alumnus Award" from University of California, Berkeley.

Sam Francis dies on 4 November in Santa Monica, California from complications of prostate cancer. His wife, Margaret Smith and their son, Augustus as well as children from previous marriages survive him: Kayo, Osamu, and Shingo, and three grandchildren: Tai, Aisha, Mawusi (Anela).

Francis is buried in northern California near Point Reyes Station.

1995
The Sam Francis Estate continues to coordinate shows with solo exhibitions at:
-Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (The Last Works installation).
-Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles.
-Grunwald/UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.
-Kunstverein Ludwigsberg, Frankfurt.
-Jeu de Paume Museum, Paris (reunites the Basel Mural panels).

1996
Solo exhibitions at:
-Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California.
-Sogetsu Art Museum, Tokyo.
-Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam.
-Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills.
-Gallery Guy Pieters, Knokke, Belgium.
-Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin.
-Galerie Proarta, Zurich.

1997
Solo exhibitions at:
-Frederick M. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California; travels in expanded form to Fundación Caja de Madrid, Spain.
-Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York.
-Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles.
-Museo d'Arte, Mendrisio, Switzerland.
-Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam.

1998
Solo exhibitions at:
-Thomas Segal Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland.
-Fundacion Miro, Barcelona, Spain.
-Gallery Guy Pieters, Knokke, Belgium.
-Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam.
-Galleria Il Gabbiano, Rome.

1999
Solo exhibitions at:
-Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles.
-Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley, California.
-Galleri Faurschou, Copenhagen, Denmark.
-Ikon Ltd. Contemporary Art, Santa Monica.
-Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles.
-Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
-Baukunst Galerie, Cologne.

1999–2001
Solo exhibitions at:
-The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; travels to: The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas; Konsthall Malmö, Sweden; the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; Galleria Communale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, Italy (reunites the Basel Mural panels in Los Angeles venue).

2000
Solo exhibitions at:
-Galleri GKM Siwert Bergstrom, Malmö, Sweden.
-Richard Gray Gallery, New York and Chicago.
-Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam.
-Lawrence Rubin Greenberg Van Doren Fine Art, New York.
-Galleria il Gabbiano, Rome.
-Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Osaka and Tokyo.

2001
Solo exhibitions at:
-Galerie Guy Pieters, Saint-Paul de Vence, France.
-Alan Cristea Gallery, London.
-Galerie Proarta, Zurich.
-Brian Gross Gallery, San Francisco.
-Lawing Gallery, Houston.

2002–2004
Solo exhibitions at:
-Galerie Pudelko, Bonn.
-Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas.
-Galerie Thomas, Munich.
-Galerie Boisserée, Cologne.
-Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland.
-Musée d'Art et d'histoire, Freiburg, Switzerland.
-Ace Gallery, Beverly Hills.
-Artemis Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York.
-Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley, California.
-Broadbent Gallery/Robert Sandelson Galleries, London.
-Santa Monica Community College, Santa Monica.
-Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam.
-Baukunst Galerie, Cologne.
-Galerie Thomas, Munich.
-American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich.
-Galerie Proarta, Zurich.

-Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo organizes major exhibition that travels to six museums in Japan.

2004–2005
Solo exhibitions at:
-Museum Jan van der Togt, Amstelveen, Netherlands.
-Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam.
-Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles.
-Kaare Berntsen, Oslo.
-Movimento Arte Contemporanea, Milan.
-Robert Sandelson Gallery, London.
-American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich.

Documentary archives of the artist's estate begins acquisition process at the John Paul Getty Art Museum Research Institute Library, Los Angeles with coordination of the Sam Francis Estate and the Sam Francis Foundation.

2006–2007
Solo exhibitions at:
-Kunstmuseum, Bern, Switzerland.
-Galerie Flintholm, Verster Skerninge, Denmark.
-Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, California.
-Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
-LC Galerie, Paris.

2008
Solo exhibitions at:
-Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles.
-Galerie Proarta, Zurich.
-Galleria San Carlo, Milan.
-Galleria Repetto, Acqui-Termi.
2009
Solo exhibitions at:
-College of the Canyons Art Gallery, Santa Clarita, California.
-American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich.
-Smith Andersen North, San Rafael, California.
-Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles.
-Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Bielefeld, Germany.
-L&M Arts, New York.
-Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London.
-Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam.
-Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke, Belgium.
2010–2011
Solo exhibitions at:
-Galerie Proarta, Zurich.
-Helly Nahmad Gallery, New York.
-Danubiana Art Museum, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
-Coskun Fine Art, London.
-Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany.
-Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
-Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam.
-Galerie Thomas Modern, Munich.
-Page Gallery, Seoul.
-Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York.

Current
Publication (fall 2011) of the Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of Canvas and Panel Paintings, by Debra Burchett-Lere; published by the University of California Press (Berkeley) and the Sam Francis Foundation. The foundation continues documenting and researching data for the publication of the catalogue raisonné of works on paper from 1940s to the 1990s.