Sam Francis

Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
Frank Titelman, Pennsylvania (acquired from the above in 1961)
Private Collection, California (by descent from the above)
Sotheby's, New York, May 6, 1992, lot 7
Private Collection, California (acquired from the above sale)
Many Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles
C&M Arts, New York
Carey Ellis Company, Houston
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1996

Los Angeles, Manny Silverman Gallery, Sam Francis: 1923-1994, March - April 1995

Debra Burchett-Lere, ed., Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of the Canvas and Panel Paintings 1946-1994, Berkeley, 2011, cat. no. SFF.288, illustrated in color on the DVD

This work is in very good condition overall. The canvas is unlined and the tacking edges are taped. There is light wear wear along the extreme edges and corners. The canvas is slightly slack on the stretcher, with associated evidence of minor buckling at the top left and bottom left corner. There is a hairline crack in the blue pigment in the lower left quadrant. Under Ultraviolet light inspection there is no evidence of restoration. Framed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Painted circa 1959-1960, Deux Magots marks a moment of enormous transition for the artist Sam Francis. Stylistically, the work is a summation of Francis’ earlier works from the 1950’s and those that were to come in the 1960’s. Subjectively, the work reflects the massive shifts the artist was experiencing in his own life. Both metamorphoses, artistic and personal, are tangible in the roiling energy of the vibrant hues, exuberant drips, and animated forms that make Deux Magots come alive.

The 1950’s were a period of both critical success and enormous artistic change for Francis. In 1950, Francis moved to Paris, and it was there that his unique brand of Abstract Expressionism, defined by thin veils of color and soft, biomorphic forms, attracted international acclaim. His paintings from that time are glimmering curtains of color and light; the artist himself noted, “color is light on fire.” (Pontus Hulten, Sam Francis, Bonn, 1993, p. 38) The soft, densely-packed forms of works like Big Red (1953) recall microscopic views of cells or miniscule organisms, filling the canvas with their wriggling movement. In 1954-55, however, Francis’ paintings undergo an enormous compositional shift. In works that are reminiscent of Matisse’s cut-outs, Francis introduces large areas of white, creating an airiness and lightness that breaks up his earlier, grid-like compositions. Indeed, the appearance of compositional white space was a precursor to the seminal Blue Balls series Francis would produce in the 1960’s. In the present work large, globular blue forms hover over areas of white, seeming to pulsate with a mysterious inner light and energy. Reflecting on these paintings, Francis remarked, “I live in a paradise of hellish blue balls – merely floating, everything floats, everything floats—where I carry this unique mathematics of my imagination through the succession of days towards a nameless tomorrow.” (Peter Selz, Sam Francis, New York, 1975, p. 80) His forms are still biomorphic, but now, the undulating shapes could be planets or atoms, cellular or galactic, microscopic or the entire cosmos.

Deux Magots, from 1959-60, marks Francis’ transition from his earlier, cellular grids to the impending “paradise” of the Blue Balls. In Deux Magots, as Francis noted, “everything floats”-effervescent blue orbs hover in the left corners, while a cluster of yellow dabs and globs drift buoyantly towards the top of the frame. A blue shape with a glowing center dominates the right side of the composition, leaving behind exuberant trails of dripping blue paint as it floats upward. The entire painting pulsates and shifts; indeed, the work seems to transform before us, oscillating between Francis’ artistic styles. This sensation of metamorphosis also reflects the changes Francis was experiencing in his personal life during this time. In 1959-60, Francis was constantly on the move between Paris, New York, Bern, and Tokyo; his days as a resident Parisian were over. In a backward glance, however, the title of this painting nostalgically refers to Francis’ favorite café in Paris, Les Deux Magots. The "landmark" Parisian café was notorious as a fertile creative environment where great minds convened, such as Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Simone de Beauvoir, among others. Francis’ sense of personal upheaval—as an artist and as an individual—is exquisitely tangible in the turbulent, energetic, and organic forms and composition of Deux Magots.