Very first stone
1959-1968
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of Henry and Dinah Krongold, Founder Benefactors, 1984
© Sam Francis/ARS, New York. Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
- Gallery location
- Contemporary Art gallery
Level 3, NGV International
About this work
In 1950, when most of America’s aspiring abstract artists were flocking to New York, the young Californian painter Sam Francis moved to Paris on the ‘GI Bill’, an allowance that financed further education for World War II veterans. He quickly found himself at the heart of the Parisian avant-garde, although he disclaimed affiliation with any particular artistic group or movement. In the earliest paintings of his Paris period, Francis restricted his palette to soft greys and white. His deepening attraction to the work of the great French colourists Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard, and exposure to the late works of Claude Monet, saw the introduction of evocative ‘all-over’ surfaces composed of layers of vibrant primary colours.
Artwork Details
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of Henry and Dinah Krongold, Founder Benefactors, 1984
© Sam Francis/ARS, New York. Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest
Level 3, NGV International