Born in California in 1923, Sam Francis was one of the great representatives of American abstract expressionism, while developing a personal style marked by light and transparency.

After a plane crash during the war, he discovered painting as a means of rebirth. Living successively in Paris, Tokyo, and New York, he absorbed both Western and Eastern influences. His painting, characterized by vast white fields punctuated with bursts of color, expresses a vibrant, cosmic energy.

Francis considered color a spiritual breath, a manifestation of the life force. His canvases, both lyrical and meditative, unite the American style with a universal sensibility. He died in 1994, leaving behind a luminous and infinitely free body of work.