Sam Francis
American, 1923–1994
In Lovely Blueness No. 2
INV-1469
Sam Francis
American, 1923–19941955/56
In Lovely Blueness No. 2
Sam Francis American, 1923–1994 →oil on canvaspainting
Date
1955/56
Medium
Oil on linen
Dimensions
Without frame: 309.9 × 365.8 cm (122 1/16 × 144 1/16 in.); 309.9 × 365.8 cm (122 × 144 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Mr. and Mrs. Frank G. Logan and Flora Mayer Witkowsky purchase prize funds; through prior gifts of Wallace L. DeWolf, Albert A. Munger and the Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection; gift of Lannan Foundation
In the mid 1950s, Sam Francis inaugurated a succession of monumentally scaled paintings informed by a variety of artistic sources, including Abstract Expressionism and French Impressionism. With their spontaneous brushwork and lyrical interplay of primary hues, these paintings established Francis as one of the foremost colorists of the postwar era. The artist often found inspiration in literary works and kept a notebook containing titles of books and verses. He named this and a related painting (In Lovely Blueness No. 1, 1955–57) after a poem by the German Romantic writer Friedrich Hölderlin, hoping to capture the poem’s sublime imagery and prophetic vision.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
