Sam Francis

Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles 
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. McLain, Newport Beach (acquired from the above in 1987)
Sotheby's, New York, 15 November 1995, Lot 10
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

Newport Harbor Art Museum, Highlights of California Art Since 1945: A Collecting Partnership, June - July 1987

This work is in very good condition overall. There is a slight undulation to the sheet, inherent to the artist’s working method, and an artist’s pinhole at the center of the top edge. The lateral edges of the sheet are deckled. Under very close inspection, a few localized and stable areas of hairline craquelure are visible in some of the circular red-painted areas. The sheet is hinged verso to the mat intermittently along the top edge. Framed under Plexiglas.
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.

"Francis's distinctive way of building a picture with an accretion of rhythmic touches, at once deliberate and loose, seems equally indebted to the legacy of Abstract Expressionism, the slashing 'automatic' gestures of Riopelle and his colleagues, and the most spontaneous, inspired Japanese brushwork, with an admixture of reverent homage to the planar strokes of Paul Cézanne's late watercolors."

Carl Belz in Karen Wilkin, Ed., Color as Field: American Painting, 1950-1975, New Haven 2007, p. 66