Blue, red and yellow
1964
Medium
gouache
Measurements
58.9 × 76.2 cm (sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1966
© Sam Francis/ARS, New York. Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
In 1950, when most of America’s aspiring abstract artists were flocking to New York, 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 avantgarde, although he denied 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, as can be seen in Blue, red and yellow.
Artwork Details
Accession Number
1590-5
Department
International Prints and Drawings
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest
Subjects (general)
Abstract Art
Subjects (specific)
blue (colour) green (colour) painting (image-making) red (colour) splatter yellow (colour)
Movements
Abstract Expressionism