GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Although Sam Francis is known primarily as a colorist, and he searched the world for rare pigments to use in his vivid compositions, this work is from a series of works he executed in black. Untitled (Black Clouds) is subtly permeated with colors, as black periodically gives way to bubbling purple, blue green, yellow, and even white, suggesting forces of nature obscured or perhaps coming to the fore.
When Sam Francis began his artistic career, he bypassed New York City, the hub of the modern art world, for Paris, where he painted for the following decade. Francis quickly merged his American-formed style of abstraction with elements of early 20th-century French art, in particular a sensuous feel for color. In the early Paris canvases, such as this untitled work, a screen of monochromatic pattern covers the surface, veiling the underlying color. Only occasional openings afford glimpses of red, blue, and yellow. Francis's confident layering of paint reveals his superb compositional balance and exquisite color sense.
Adapted from
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Untitled (Black Clouds) (1985.98)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 292.
- Charles Wylie, Fast Forward: Contemporary Collections for the Dallas Museum of Art, 2006.
- Charles Wylie, Re-Seeing the Contemporary: Selected from the Collection, October 2010.
NOTES
updated paris as geo x ref; updated provenance
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: James Mayor Gallery, London
Until 1985: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows, Dallas, Texas, purchased from Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York
From 1985: Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation Incorporated, by exchange
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- The Broad~Read more about Sam Francis, and explore other works.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- "When I paint I try to create the sense of being in it." -Sam Francis
TEACHING IDEAS
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Apply to objects where number equals 1985.98
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General Description
Although Sam Francis is known primarily as a colorist, and he searched the world for rare pigments to use in his vivid compositions, this work is from a series of works he executed in black. Untitled (Black Clouds) is subtly permeated with colors, as black periodically gives way to bubbling purple, blue green, yellow, and even white, suggesting forces of nature obscured or perhaps coming to the fore.
When Sam Francis began his artistic career, he bypassed New York City, the hub of the modern art world, for Paris, where he painted for the following decade. Francis quickly merged his American-formed style of abstraction with elements of early 20th-century French art, in particular a sensuous feel for color. In the early Paris canvases, such as this untitled work, a screen of monochromatic pattern covers the surface, veiling the underlying color. Only occasional openings afford glimpses of red, blue, and yellow. Francis's confident layering of paint reveals his superb compositional balance and exquisite color sense.
Adapted from
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Untitled (Black Clouds) (1985.98)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 292.
- Charles Wylie, Fast Forward: Contemporary Collections for the Dallas Museum of Art, 2006.
- Charles Wylie, Re-Seeing the Contemporary: Selected from the Collection, October 2010.
Fun Facts
- "When I paint I try to create the sense of being in it." -Sam Francis
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
updated paris as geo x ref; updated provenance
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: James Mayor Gallery, London
Until 1985: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows, Dallas, Texas, purchased from Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York
From 1985: Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation Incorporated, by exchange
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
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Objects
number
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1985.98
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