SAM'S
FACTS
1923
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Born June 25, San Mateo, California.
1949
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B.A., University of California at Berkeley.
1950
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M.A. University of California at Berkeley.
1946-50
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Begins painting in San Francisco, California.
1950-58
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Lives and works in Paris, France with travels to
Mexico, Japan, and Europe.
1952
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Solo exhibitions at Galerie Nina Dausset, Paris;
Galerie du Dragon, Paris.
1955
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Solo exhibition at Galerie Rive Droite, Paris.
1956
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"12 Americans" group show at the Museum
of Modern Art, New York.
Solo gallery shows at Galerie Rive Droite, Paris, France; Martha Jackson Gallery,
New York.
1957
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Completes mural for the Sogetsu School of the sculptor
and flower arranger, Sofu Teshigahara, in Tokyo, Japan.
Solo show at Gimpel Fils, Ltd, London, England.
1952-58
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Solo shows at Gimpel Fils Ltd., London; Kornfeld
and Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland; Martha Jackson Gallery, New York.
1959
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Lives in New York City; works on the Chase Manhattan
Bank mural.
Solo exhibition at Pasadena Art Museum, California which travels to San Francisco
Museum of Art, California and Seattle Art Museum, Washington.
1960-61
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Lives in Bern.
Solo museum show at Kunsthalle, Bern which travels to Moderna Museet, Stockholm,
Sweden.
1962
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Moves to Santa Monica, California, which becomes
permanent home base.
Solo show at Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, California.
1961-64
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Solo shows at Minami Gallery, Tokyo; Kornfeld and
Klipstein, Bern; and Galerie Benador, Zurich, Switzerland.
Major exhibition at Documenta III, Kassel, Germany.
1966
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Sky painting performance in Japan over Tokyo Bay.
1967
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Sky painting performance in Naibara, Japan.
Solo show at Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York.
Retrospective exhibition at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas which later
travels to University Art Museum, Berkeley, California and San Francisco Museum
of Art.
1968
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Receives an Honorary Ph.D. from the University
of California, Berkeley.
Solo museum exhibition at Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Paris and Kunsthalle,
Basel. Solo show at Minami Gallery, Tokyo.
1969-71
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Paints and installs a commissioned mural for the
National Gallery of Art, West Berlin, Germany.
1970
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Exhibition at Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
California; Martha Jackson Gallery, New York; Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles.
Establishes The Litho Shop to print his own lithographs.
1969-72
Solo shows at André Emmerich Gallery, New
York; Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles.
1972
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Retrospective solo museum exhibition at the Albright-Knox
Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, which travels to Corcoran Gallery, Washington,
D.C., Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts,
Texas, and Oakland Museum of Art, California.
Exhibit at the Stanford University Museum of Art, California.
1973-74
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Lives and paints primarily in Tokyo.
1974
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Exhibition at the Idemitsu Art Museum, Tokyo.
Solo show at Minami Gallery, Tokyo. Incorporates The Litho Shop.
1975-77
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Solo exhibitions at Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los
Angeles; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; André Emmerich Gallery, New
York; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, Illinois; Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern;
Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California.
Begins collaboration with Garner Tullis on monotypes.
1977
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Paintings are in group exhibition "Art in
Progress" at the Louisiana Museum of Art at Humlebaek, Denmark, which
later travels to Centre Pompidou, Paris; and Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm.
1978
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Solo show at Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles.
Exhibition at Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles.
1979
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Retrospective exhibition of works on paper at Institute
of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts, which travels to Taiwan, Hong
Kong, Manila, Korea, and Japan under the U.S. International Communication
Agency. "Art in Progress" at Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel.
Solo shows at Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; André Emmerich Gallery,
New York and Brooke Alexander, Inc., New York.
1980
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Exhibition at Abbaye de Senanque, Gordes, France;
“Monotypes," Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Solo exhibitions at Riko Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles; James Corcoran Gallery,
Los Angeles; and Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto.
Mural commissions at Weinstock's Department Store, Sacramento, and General
Services Administration building in Anchorage, Alaska.
Becomes part of the Board of Trustees of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los
Angeles.
1981
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Solo exhibitions at André Emmerich Gallery,
New York; Ace Gallery, Los Angeles; Ruth Schaffner Gallery, Santa Barbara;
The Faith and Charity in Hope Gallery, Idaho.
Establishes temporary painting studio in San Leandro, California to complete
the San Francisco Museum of Art Mural commission.
1982
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Solo exhibitions at André Emmerich Gallery,
New York; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo; and monotype exhibition at Richard Gray
Gallery, Chicago.
1983
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Completes of the San Francisco Airport Mural.
Solo exhibitions at André Emmerich Gallery, New York; Galerie Kornfeld,
Bern; Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto; Fondation Maeght, St.Paul, France;
Studio Marconi, Milan, Italy; Colorado State University, Colorado; Galerie
Jean Fournier, Paris; Art Attack Gallery, Idaho; John Berggruen Gallery, San
Francisco; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo and a travelling survey of works on paper
through the Art Museum Association of America.
1984
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Establishes Lapis Press to publish artists’
books.
Solo exhibitions at André Emmerich Gallery; Pamela Auchincloss Gallery,
Santa Barbara; Brooke Alexander, Inc., New York; Cantor/Lemberg Gallery, Michigan
and Robert Elkon Gallery, New York; Thomas Babeor Gallery, La Jolla, California
; Knoedler Gallery, London; Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles and Steven Wirtz Gallery,
San Francisco.
1985
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Solo exhibitions at Galerie Kornfeld, Bern; Galerie
Jean Fournier, Paris; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago;
Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto and Hokin Gallery, Bay Harbor Isle, Florida.
Completes a mural for the San Francisco Museum of Art.
1986
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Solo shows at André Emmerich Gallery, New
York; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo; Angles Gallery,
Santa Monica; Le Maire de Paris, France; Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa
Barbara and Michael Dunev Fine Arts, San Francisco.
Receives commission to paint mural for ceiling of the Opera National, Theatre
Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels.
1987
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Solo exhibitions at Knoedler Gallery, London; André
Emmerich Gallery, New York; Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara; Heland
Thorden Wetterling Galleries, Stockholm; G. Dalsheimer Gallery, Baltimore,
Maryland; Galeria Eude, Barcelona Spain; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles;
Galerie Pudelko, Bonn, West Germany and Lever/Meyerson Galleries, New York.
1988
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Solo exhibitions at André Emmerich Gallery,
New York; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo; Smith-Andersen
Gallery, Palo Alto; Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri and Galerie de
Seoul, Korea.
Sam Francis Exhibition travels throughout Japan, April 1988-March 1989 (Toyama
Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, Seibu Takanawa, Karuizawa, The Museum of
Modern Art,Shiga, Ohara Museum of Art, Murashiki, Setagaya Art Museum,Tokyo).
1989
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Solo exhibitions at André Emmerich Gallery,
New York; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London;
Sun Valley Center Gallery, Idaho; Linda Farris Gallery, Seattle, WA; Cantor/Lemberg
Gallery, Birmingham, MI and Knoedler Gallery, London.
1990
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Solo exhibitions at Associated American Artists,
New York (prints); Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Heland Wetterling
Gallery, Stockholm; Ogawa Art Foundation, Tokyo (monotypes); Ochi Gallery,
Ketchum, Idaho; Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland; Andre' Emmerich
Gallery, New York and Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto (prints).
1991
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Forty year retrospective at Galerie Kornfeld, Bern.
Solo exhibitions at Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; James Corcoran Gallery,
Los Angeles; Angles Gallery, Los Angeles; Associated American Artists, New
York (prints); Gagosian Gallery, New York; Centre Regional d'Art Contemporain
Midi-Pyrenees, Toulouse-Labege, France. Galerie Daniel Papierski, Paris; Museum
van der Togt, Amsterdam; Kukje Gallery, Seoul.
Retrospective museum exhibition at the Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik
Deutchland, Bonn, Germany, curated by Pontus Hulten. Solo exhibitions at Galerie
Pudelko, Bonn; Bobbie Greenfield Fine Art, Venice, California; Michele Cohen
Gallery, New York; Ochi Gallery, Ketchum; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles;Galerie
Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland.
Commission for new German Parliament Building, Bonn.
Major donation of ten paintings to The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA),
Los Angeles
1994
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November 4, 1994, Sam Francis passes away
in Santa Monica. Earlier that year, several exhibitions are mounted. Three
paintings from the MOCA collection exhibited, "Selections from the Permanent
Collection."
Solo exhibitions: Long Fine Art, New York; Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam; Bobbie
Greenfield Gallery, Venice, CA; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France; Galerie
Proarta, Zurich; Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo;
Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago; University Art Museum, University of California,
Berkeley; Barbara Scott Gallery, Bay Harbor Islands, Florida; Galerie Kornfeld,
Bern; Daco Verlag Gunter Blase, Stuttgart, Germany; Riva Yares Gallery, Santa
Fe, New Mexico; Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, Tennesee.
1995
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"The Last Paintings of Sam Francis,"
a group of 152 small paintings (painted June through August, 1994, at the
Santa Monica house studio) is exhibited at The Los Angeles County Museum of
Art.
Solo exhibitions at the following galleries and museums: "Sam Francis
Memorial," André Emmerich Gallery, New York; Manny Silverman Gallery,
Los Angeles; "Black & White," Grunwald/UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum,
Los Angeles; "Shadow of Colors," Kunstverein Ludwigsberg, Germany;
traveled to Louisiana Museum of Art, Denmark; "Les annees Parisiennes
- 1950-1961," Jeu de Paume, Paris.
"Remembering Sam," Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto; Sogetsu Art
Museum, Tokyo; Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam; Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills,
California; Gallery Guy Pieters, Knokke, Belgium; Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin;
Galerie Proarta, Zurich.
1997
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"Sam Francis: The Archetypal Image,"
Frederick M. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California
which travels to The Fundacion Caja de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; "Monotypes,"
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; "Sam Francis: In New York 1958-1960,"
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles; Musee d'Arte, Mendrisio, Switzerland;
"Sam Francis; Blue Forms, 1959-1960," Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago;
Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam; "Francis, Jenkins, Mathieu," Associated
American Artists, New York; Galerie Retelet, St. Paul de Vence, France.
1998
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Solo exhibitions: "Monotypes," Dorothy
Blau Gallery, Bay Harbor Island,"Monotypes," Thomas Segal Gallery,
Baltimore, Maryland; ACA Gallery, Munich, Germany; Gallery Guy Pieters, Knokke,
Belgium; “Sam Francis: The Edge and Fresh Air Pieces,” Bobbie
Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica; “Sam Francis: 1923-1994 Memorial Exhibition,”
Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam; “Sam Francis, Mostra Personale,” Galleria
d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, Italy; “Sam Francis,” Galerie
Beck & Eggeling, Rottach-Egern, Germany.
1999
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Solo exhibitions: “Sam Francis: The Aquatints,”
Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles (prints); “Sam Francis: Fresh Air
Paintings on Paper and Prints,” Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley,
California; “Sam Francis: The LastWorks,” Galleri Faurschou, Copenhagen,
Denmark; Ikon, Ltd., Los Angeles; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles; Galerie
Pascal Retelet, Saint Paul de Vence, France; Galleria del Naviglio, Milan,
Italy; Arelio Stefanini, Florence, Italy. Retrospective museum exhibition,
“Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990,”Museum of Contemporary Art,
Los Angeles (traveling through 2001 to: The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas;
Konsthall, Malmo, Sweden; the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid,
Spain; among other venues).
The Sam Francis Estate establishes exclusive United States gallery representation
with the Lawrence Rubin Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New YorkCity
