Sam Francis entered the history of art first and foremost as an exceptional painter who became one of the icons of Abstract Expressionism. His sculptures are more or less extempore of his monumental painting and graphic work. When assessing his body of work, several key factors appear. In addition to colour, he explored space which had an important sensuous function in his painting.
Referring to the large white areas in his paintings he once said: “The space in the centre of these paintings is reserved for you”. During his extended visits to Japan, he was profoundly influenced by Zen Buddhism, the cultures of the Far East and the Japanese use of negative space. On his visit to Japan in 1964, he began to explore the third dimension through his engagement in ceramics. The drawings and sketches for sculptures from this period have been preserved. In 1970, he made small plaster models based on these drawings. This period is little known because he did not make large sculptures during his lifetime. In 2003, however, the Sam Francis Foundation had large sculptures made after the original models. They were executed in patinated and chrome steel. The Sculpture sited in the Danubiana Park belongs to a small number of sculptures produced from small plaster models. One of his sculptures from the same series has recently been sited in the Huntington’s Virginia Steel Scott Galleries of American Art in Pasadena.
