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Article: Sunny side up.(abstract expressionist painter Sam Francis)
- Article from:
- Artforum International
- Article date:
- March 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Artforum International Magazine, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SIMULTANEOUS HOME-TURF RETROSPECTIVES FOR CALIFORNIA NATIVE SAM FRANCIS AND WEST COAST ADOPTEE BAS JAN ADER PROVIDE THE OCCASION FOR A PAIR OF ARTFORUM CONTRIBUTING EDITORS TO REASSESS THE RESPECTIVE LEGACIES OF TWO CENTRAL PROTAGONISTS IN THE PREHISTORY OF LA'S CURRENT ARTISTIC FLOWERING.
A lot of people still wonder whether or not Sam Francis was a bona fide Abstract Expressionist. Of course he was. His paintings are abstract, aren't they? And they're "expressionist" - at least in the evident sense that he applied paint in a loose, vigorous manner and left a lot of the details to chance. But if expressionism also implies some special access to raw emotion, ...