SAM FRANCIS | For Fred

Yayoi Gallery, Tokyo
Acquired from the above by the present owner in July 1993

Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery; Washington, D.C., Corcoran Gallery of Art; New York, Whitney Museum of American Art; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts; Oakland Museum, Sam Francis: Paintings 1947–1972, September 1972 - August 1973, cat. no. 5, p. 36, illustrated
Bonn, Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Sam Francis, February - April 1993, pp. 62-63, illustrated in color
Paris, Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Sam Francis: Les années parisiennes 1950–1961, December 1995 - February 1996, pp. 22 and 74, illustrated in color
Tokuyama City Museum of Art and History, Sam Francis and Sengai: From the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, April - June 1997, cat. no. 2, pp. 18-19, illustrated in color
Tokyo, Idemitsu Museum of Arts; Osaka, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Sam Francis: From the Idemitsu Collection, June 2000 – April 2001, cat. no. 3, p. 15, illustrated in color
Toyama, Museum of Modern Art; Chiba, Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art; Museum of Art Ehime; Tokyo, Museum of Contemporary Art; Fukushima, Iwaki City Museum of Art; Oita City Art Museum, Sam Francis: From the Idemitsu Collection, August 2002 - October 2003, cat. no. 3, p. 28, illustrated in color

Peter Selz, Sam Francis, New York 1975, pl. 5, p. 28, illustrated
Yves Michaud, Sam Francis, Paris 1992, p. 28, illustrated
Exh. Cat., Amstelveen, Museum Jan van der Togt, Sam Francis, 1992, p. 11, illustrated
Contemporary Great Masters: Sam Francis, Tokyo 1994, p. 11, illustrated
Exh. Cat., Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sam Francis: Paintings 1947–1990, 1999, fig. 12, p. 18, illustrated
Debra Burchett-Lere, Ed., Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of Canvas and Panel Paintings 1946-1994, Berkeley 2011, cat. no. SFF.67, illustrated in color on the DVD
Exh. Cat., New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Jay DeFeo: A Retrospective, New Haven 2012, p. 63, illustrated in color 

This work is in very good condition overall. There is evidence of light wear and handling along the edges, which are taped. Under very close inspection, two small white spot accretions are visible in the center of the canvas. The colors are bright and fresh. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, the aforementioned accretions fluoresce brightly but are not the result 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.

An early and brilliant example of what would become an obsession with the relationship between color and light, For Fred by Sam Francis is an exhilarating abstract work that experiments with tonality and saturation to create immense energy and tension in a two-dimensional space. Executed in 1949, the painting reveals how Francis was already developing his acute sensitivity to light and its characteristics at UC Berkeley, years before the enthusiastically colorful, large-scale paintings for which he has become famous. At this stage in his oeuvre, Francis was exploring the effects of contrast on color in the development of his inimitable style. For Fred exquisitely illustrates this interrogation through the multiplicity of crimson brushstrokes that dance dynamically outward across the canvas in varying degrees of saturation, highlighted by fl ashes of cobalt and chartreuse. White canvas is glimpsed between the ruby forms, yet through thin washes of oil paint, the alabaster is activated to heighten each orb of color. Each individual shape echoes the stroke of his brush, translucent towards the center of the painting and more saturated around the peripheries, developing a kinetic energy that radiates from the center of the canvas in the lightest of forms.

It is this juxtaposition of opaque, saturated paint against thin washes of color that most precisely epitomizes Francis’s unique understanding of the relationship between light, color, and space. The gradations of tone, as they sweep outward from the center toward the edges of the canvas, emphasize the flatness of the plane, yet the subtle layers of color paradoxically add immense depth, movement, and energy. The hypnotizing network of organically interwoven zones of color that describe the compositional structure of For Fred become ever more impactful and outstanding atop the utter stillness of the calm white that underlies them.

In For Fred, beams of e! ervescent pigment converge at the center of the canvas in an eruption of color; as the eye moves out, this pulsating web clarifies into individual beams that firmly anchor the piece at the borders of the canvas. There is a strong, stabilizing verticality to the central form, though Francis never paints a single line. Instead, shimmering buds of rose and scarlet bloom with abandon across the canvas, interspersed with hints of lime and a splash of electric ultramarine. Between these interwoven beams of riotous pigment, zones of depthless white o! er a quiet purity that counterbalances the frenetic energy of Francis’s brush. For Fred thus exemplifies the artist’s profound fascination with color. “Color is a kind of holy substance for me,” he has said. “It’s the element in painting which I am most fascinated with. It is an element of painting which overcomes me… Color in a way is a receptacle for a feeling and a way for you to hold it until understanding arrives or meaning is extracted” (Francis quoted in Sam Francis, dir. Michael Blackwood, 1975–76).

This work is identified with the interim identification number of SFF.67 in consideration for the forthcoming Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of Canvas and Panel Paintings. This information is subject to change as scholarship continues by the Sam Francis Foundation.