Sam Francis: Lithographs

Samuel Lewis Francis, born in 1923, was an American abstract expressionist. Alongside names such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, he developed a new aesthetic full of color, a total mastery of his artistic genre and an original conception of the canvas.

During his career, Sam Francis was an avid printmaker. He was particularly interested in lithography, fascinated by its unconstrained nature which allowed the fluidity which characterized his work. The medium gave his work an expressive quality, a painterly aesthetic which fully facilitated his experimental process. 

To produce these lithograph prints, Francis established his own print studio in 1970 called The Litho Shop, Inc. To achieve the painterly look his lithographs are famous for, Francis would apply ink onto the lithographic limestone, creating brush strokes, drips and splatters which mirror the same application used with oil and watercolor on canvas. Inspired by a variety of aesthetics and experiences, such as his time living in Japan and the philosophy of Zen Buddhism.

Artsper has collated a selection of lithographs by Sam Francis which accumulate all elements of his work. Make one of these works your own!