Solo exhibition
Lawrence Rubin • Greenberg Van Doren • Fine Art is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings and works on paper from the early 60s by Sam Francis. This is the gallery’s second Sam Francis exhibition organized in collaboration with The Sam Francis Estate, following an exhibition of the artist’s work from the 1950s presented in November and December of 1999. “Sam Francis: Works from the Early 1960s” will be on view from October 4 through November 4, 2000.
The five year span covered in this exhibition, 1960 to 1965, was a period of intense experimentation and innovation for Francis. Two of his most important series, “Blue Balls” and “Bright Ring” were produced during this time. Examples of both abstract series, including the large “Blue Balls” canvases Why Then Opened II and Blue Balls V, both 1962, will be on view. An untitled 1960 work on paper in which massive blue forms are outlined by white canvas is a precursor to the floating circular shapes in the “Blue Balls” works. In Why Then Opened II and a dynamic 1962 “Blue Balls” gouache on paper, yellows and reds mingle with blue, Francis’s signature color. Thick, multicolored brushstrokes work their way from the paper edge toward the center of Rainbow, a 1963-64 gouache. Minimalism and an indulgence in tone and texture are balanced in the 1965 Untitled oil on canvas “Edge” painting, in which a white field of paint is framed by colorful, undulating bands.