SAM FRANCIS | Untitled (Cool Violet)

Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
Harris B. Steinberg Collection, New York
Galerie Beyeler, Basel
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco
Acquired from the above by the present owner in June 1983

New York, Martha Jackson Gallery, Sam Francis: Watercolors and Around the Blues, November - December 1957, cat. no. 3, n.p., (text)
New York, Horace Mann School, A Half-Century of American Art, 1959
Boulder, Henderson Museum Gallery of Art, University of Colorado, Watermedia Painting, July - September 1970, n.p., illustrated
Basel, Galerie Beyeler, Sam Francis: Ölbilder und Gouachen, June 1977, cat. no. 11, n.p. (text)
Musée d’art contemporain de Montreal, L’oeil du collectionneur, October 1996 - January 1997, p. 58 (text)

Karen Thomson, Ed., The Blema and H. Arnold Steinberg Collection, Montreal 2015, cat. no. 30, p. 37, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. All four edges of the sheet are deckled. There is a very slight undulation to the sheet, evidence of handling and wear to the edges, including light rubbing to the bottom right corner of the sheet, and yellowing along all four extreme edges. The colors are bright and fresh. The sheet is hinged verso to the mat at the interior of the top two corners. 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.

"Blue had become a signature color for Francis [...] the multiple gradations of blue can be traced to several sources, including poetry [...] Francis' experience of Venice, especially the Byzantine mosaics at Torcello, as well as the light of the sky and sea permeating the city. He surely was also struck by the blue vault of heaven in Giotto's frescoes at Padua. Always inspired by Matisse, Francis particularly focused on Matisse's extensive work with blues in the early 1950s. But more than anything there was the ongoing impact of late Monet— 'I made the late Monet pure,' he said—redolent with blue, especially in the Grandes Nymphéas at the Orangerie in Paris [reopened after the war in 1953]." William C. Agee in: "Sam Francis: Coming of Age in the Mother City" in: Exh. Cat., New York, L&M Arts, Sam Francis: 1953-1959, 2009, p. 14

Executed in 1956-57, this work is identified with the interim identification number of SF57-045 in consideration for the forthcoming Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of Unique Works on Paper. This information is subject to change as scholarship continues by the Sam Francis Foundation.