Untitled, 1982 (SF82-254) by Sam Francis

Untitled (SF82-254), 1982

Name: Untitled (SF82-254), 1982
Brand: Sam Francis
Availability: InStock

Sam Francis

Medium: acrylic on paper

Signature: signed and dated 'Sam Francis 1982' verso

Framed size: 28.5 x 23"

Price on Request

15513581

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"Untitled (SF82-254)" is an acrylic on paper painting created by Sam Francis in 1982. The artwork is signed and dated 'Sam Francis 1982' verso. The artwork ships framed in a contemporary closed-corner gold leaf frame and has a framed size of 28.5 x 23".

Sam Francis’s “Untitled (SF82-254),” painted in 1982, reflects the assured intensity of his late career. Executed in acrylic on paper, the work embodies the dual forces that defined his practice: spontaneous gesture and structural clarity, radiant color and contemplative depth. It stands as a vivid example of an artist whose vision remained singular despite spanning continents and movements.

Francis was one of the first American painters to gain sustained international acclaim, exhibiting widely in Paris, Tokyo, and New York. His work synthesizes Western modernism with Eastern philosophy, particularly ideas absorbed during his years in Japan. This cross-cultural engagement shaped a visual language that feels both intuitive and meditative, energetic yet composed.

In “Untitled (SF82-254),” geometric blocks of saturated purple anchor the composition, establishing a structural foundation. Across this framework, vibrant splashes of blue, red, and yellow surge with immediacy. These chromatic bursts are not decorative but experiential, creating a field that seems to vibrate with motion. In counterpoint, darker amorphous black forms introduce weight and gravity. The tension between luminous color and shadowed depth generates a dynamic equilibrium.

Acrylic lends the surface a physical assertiveness distinct from the translucency of watercolor. Color pools, collides, and expands across the paper, while the white ground remains active and responsive. Each gesture appears instinctive yet deliberate, guided by Francis’s refined understanding of balance. The composition achieves intensity without chaos, allowing energy to circulate within a disciplined framework.

Created during the final decade of his career, this work reflects Francis’s continued exploration of contrast and psychological force. The interplay of saturated hues against deep blacks underscores his lifelong fascination with color as a metaphysical presence.

“Untitled (SF82-254)” captures an artist at a moment of mature authority. Through bold chromatic interplay and controlled spontaneity, Francis transforms paper into a charged field of sensation, affirming his enduring role as one of the defining voices of postwar abstraction.

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Details

Medium: acrylic on paper
Year: 1982

Image size: 19.5 x 13.25"
Framed size: 28.5 x 23"

Signature: signed and dated 'Sam Francis 1982' verso

Reference:

SF82-254

Literature:

Mozur, Nancy & Robles, Jaime, Cobalt Blue, Sam Francis Foundation, 2019, p. 41 (illustrated)

Exhibited:

Toyama, Japan, Museum of Modern Art, Sam Francis, April 23 - June 19, 1988, p. 78, no. 44 (illustrated)

About the Work

About the Artist

Sam Francis (1923 – 1994), internationally celebrated for his radiant use of color and light, stands as one of the great figures of postwar abstraction. His bold canvases, rooted in Abstract Expressionism yet enriched by global influences from Paris to Tokyo, speak directly to today’s collectors seeking works that transcend boundaries of place and time. Francis’s paintings and works on paper are represented in the world’s leading museums, including MoMA (New York), Tate (London), Centre Pompidou (Paris), LACMA (Los Angeles), and SFMOMA. His market remains exceptionally strong, underscored by recent record-breaking sales and renewed curatorial attention, such as LACMA’s 2023 exhibition Sam Francis and Japan: Emptiness Overflowing. With their luminous expanses of white and bursts of vivid blues, reds, and golds, Francis’s works feel startlingly contemporary, anchoring him as a cornerstone of 20th-century art whose vision remains vital in the 21st-century market.

Untitled (SF82-254), 1982

$98,500.00

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