compiled by Debra Burchett-Lere
1923
• Born June 25, San Mateo, California.
1949
• B.A., University of California at Berkeley.
1950
• M.A. University of California at Berkeley.
1946-50
• Began painting in San Francisco, California.
1950-58
• Lived and worked in Paris, France with travels to Mexico, Japan, and Europe.
1952
• Galerie Nina Dausset, Paris
• Galerie du Dragon, Paris
1955
• Galerie Rive Droite, Paris
1956
• “12 Americans” group show at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.
• Galerie Rive Droite, Paris
• Martha Jackson Gallery, New York City
1957
• Completed mural for the Sogetsu School of the sculptor and flower arranger, Sofu Teshigahara, in Tokyo, Japan.
• Gimpel Fils, Ltd, London, England
1952-58
• Gimpel Fils Ltd., London
• Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland
• Martha Jackson Gallery, New York City
1959
• Lived in New York City; worked on the Chase Manhattan Bank mural.
• Solo museum show at Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, California that traveled to San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco ; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington.
1959-61
• Lived in Bern. Solo museum show at Kunsthalle, Bern that traveled to Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden.
1961
• Moved to Santa Monica, California, which became permanent home base.
• Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, California
1961-64
• Minami Gallery, Tokyo
• Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern
• Galerie Benador, Zurich, Switzerland
• Major exhibition at Documenta III, Kassel, Germany.
1966
• Sky painting performance in Japan over Tokyo Bay.
1967
• Snow painting performance in Naibara, Japan.
• Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York City
• Retrospective museum show at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas that traveled to University Art Museum, Berkeley; San Francisco Museum of Art
1968
• Receives Honorary Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
• Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Paris
• Kunsthalle, Basel.
• Minami Gallery, Tokyo.
1969-71
• Painted and installed commissioned mural for the National Gallery of Art, West Berlin, Germany.
• Solo museum show at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
• Martha Jackson Gallery, New York City
• Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles.
1970
• Established the Litho Shop in Santa Monica to print and publish his own lithographs.
1969-72
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York City
• Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles
1972
• Retrospective solo museum show at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, that traveled to Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Texas; Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, California.
• Stanford University Museum of Art, Palo Alto, California.
1973-74
• Lived and painted primarily in Tokyo.
1974
• Idemitsu Art Museum, Tokyo.
• Minami Gallery, Tokyo
• Incorporated the Litho Shop
1975-77
• Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
• Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern
• Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto
• Began collaboration with Garner Tullis on monotypes.
• Paintings in group exhibition “Art in Progress” at the Louisiana Museum of Art at Humlebaek, Denmark that traveled to Centre Pompidou, Paris; Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm.
1978
• Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles
• Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles
1979
• Retrospective exhibition of works on paper at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts, that traveled to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Manila, Korea, and Japan under the U.S. International communication Agency.
• Included in “Art in Progress” exhibition at Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel.
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Brooke Alexander, Inc., New York
1980
• Abbaye de Senanque, Gordes, France
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• Riko Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles
• James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles
• Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto
• Mural commissions at Weinstocks Department Store, Sacramento, and General Services Administration building in Anchorage, Alaska.
• Becomes part of the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
1981
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Ace Gallery, Los Angeles
• Ruth Schaffner Gallery, Santa Barbara
• Faith and Charity in Hope Gallery, Idaho
• Established temporary painting studio in San Leandro, California to complete the San Francisco Museum of Art Mural commission.
1982
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
• Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
1983
• Completed the San Francisco Airport Mural.
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Galerie Kornfeld, Bern
• Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto
• Fondation Maeght, St.Paul, France
• Studio Marconi, Milan, Italy
• Colorado State University, Colorado
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• Art Attack Gallery, Idaho
• John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco
• Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
• Travelling survey of works on paper through the Art Museum Association of America.
1984
• Established Lapis Press to publish artists’ books.
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara
• Brooke Alexander, Inc., New York
• Cantor/Lemberg Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan
• Robert Elkon Gallery, New York
• Thomas Babeor Gallery, La Jolla, California
• Knoedler Gallery, London
• Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles
• Steven Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco
1985
• Galerie Kornfeld, Bern
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
• Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
• Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto
• Hokin Gallery, Bay Harbor Isle, Florida
• Completed mural for the San Francisco Museum of Art.
1986
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
• Angles Gallery, Santa Monica
• Le Maire de Paris, France
• Received commission to paint mural for ceiling of the Opera National, Theatre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels.
1987
• Solo exhibitions at Knoedler Gallery, London
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara
• Heland Thorden Wetterling Galleries, Stockholm
• G.Dalsheimer Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland
• Galeria Eude, Barcelona Spain
• Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles
• Galerie Pudelko, Bonn, Germany
• Lever/Meyerson Galleries, New York
1988
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
• Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto
• Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
• Galerie Seoul, Korea.
• Sam Francis Exhibition traveled throughout Japan, April 1988-March 1989 to: Toyama Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, Seibu Takanawa, Karuizawa, the Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Ohara Museum of Art, Murashiki, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo.
1989
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
• Sun Valley Center Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho
• Linda Farris Gallery, Seattle
• Cantor/Lemberg Gallery, Birmingham
• Knoedler Gallery, London
1990
• Associated American Artists, New York (prints)
• Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Heland Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm
• Ogawa Art Foundation, Tokyo (monotypes)
• Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho
• Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
• Andre’ Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto (prints)
1991
• Forty year retrospective at Galerie Kornfeld, Bern
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles
• Angles Gallery, Los Angeles
• Associated American Artists, New York (prints)
• Gagosian Gallery, New York
• Centre Regional d’Art Contemporain Midi-Pyrenees, Toulouse-Labege, France.
1992
• Galerie Daniel Papierski, Paris
• Museum van der Togt, Amstelveen, the Netherlands
• Kukje Gallery, Seoul
1993
• Retrospective museum exhibition at the Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutchland, Bonn, Germany, curated by Pontus Hulten.
• Galerie Pudelko, Bonn
• Bobbie Greenfield Fine Art, Venice, California
• Michele Cohen Gallery, New York
• Ochi Gallery, Ketchum
• Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles
• Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland.
• Commission for new German Parliament Building, Bonn.
• Major donation of ten paintings to The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles.
1994
• Long Fine Art, New York
• Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam
• Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Venice
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
• Galerie Proarta, Zurich
• Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
• Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
• University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley honored Francis with Distinguished Alumnus Award and announced Scholarship Award in Francis’ name.
• Daco Verlag Günter Bläse, Stuttgart, Germany published major monograph on monotypes.
• November 4, 1994, Sam Francis passed away in Santa Monica.
1995
• “The Last Paintings of Sam Francis,” 152 small paintings (painted June through August 1994, at his Santa Monica house studio) exhibited at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles
• Grunwald/UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
• Kunstverein Ludwigsberg, Germany.
• “Les annees Parisiennes – 1950-1961,” at the Jeu de Paume, Paris reunited the three Basel Mural panels.
1996
• Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto
• Sogetsu Art Museum, Tokyo
• Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam
• Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills, California
• Gallery Guy Pieters, Knokke, Belgium
• Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin
• Galerie Proarta, Zurich
1997
• “Sam Francis: The Archetypal Image,” opened at the Frederick M. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California and traveled to The Fundacion Caja de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
• André Emmerich Gallery, New York
• Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles
• Musee d’Arte, Mendrisio, Switzerland
• Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
• Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam
• Galerie Retelet, St. Paul de Vence, France
1998
• Dorothy Blau Gallery, Bay Harbor Island
• Thomas Segal Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland
• ACA Gallery, Münich, Germany
• Gallery Guy Pieters, Knokke, Belgium
• Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica
• Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam
• Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, Italy.
1999
• Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles (prints)
• Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley, California
• Galleri Faurschou, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Ikon, Ltd., Los Angeles
• Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles
• Galerie Pascal Retelet, Saint Paul de Vence, France
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• Baukunst Galerie, Cologne
• Pace Editions, New York (prints)
• Galerie Loeper, Hamburg, Germany
1999-2001
• Major retrospective exhibit “Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990,” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles curated by William C. Agee. Traveled through 2001 to: the Menil Collection, Houston, Texas; Konsthall Malmö, Malmö, Sweden; the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; Galleria Communale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, Italy.
2000
• Galleri GKM Siwert Bergström, Malmö
• Bruk Kahan Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida
• Richard Gray Gallery, New York and Chicago
• Rayuela Galeria De Arte, Madrid; Ikon Ltd., Santa Monica
• Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam
• Lawrence Rubin Greenberg Van Doren Fine Art, New York
• Galleria il Gabbiano, Rome
• Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri
• Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Osaka and Tokyo.
2001
• Sam Francis Estate offices/gallery/print studio move to new location at 5440 McConnell Ave., Los Angeles.
• Meyerovich Gallery, San Francisco
• Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, Germany
• Galerie Guy Pieters, Saint-Paul, France
• Alan Cristea Gallery, London
• Galerie Proarta, Zurich
• Brian Gross Gallery, San Francisco
• Lawing Gallery, Houston
• Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam
2002
• Galerie Andreas Baumgartl, München, Germany
• Galerieof Fine Arts Ltd., Gstaad, Switzerland.
2002-2003
• Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo organizes major Sam Francis exhibition from their collection that travels to six museums in Japan through 2003 (The Museum of Modern Art, Toyama; Kawamura Memorial Museum, Chiba; The Museum of Art, Ehime; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Iwaki City Art Museum, Fukushima; Oita Art Museum, Oita.
2003
• Solo show at Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland.
• Ace Gallery, Beverly Hills, California
• Artemis Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York.
• Galerie Guy Pieters, Saint Paul de Vence (France).
• Robert Sandelson Gallery, London, UK
• Broadbent Gallery, London, UK
2003-2004
• Solo show Prototypes at Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2004
• Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, Germany
• Galleri GKM Siwert Bergström, Malmö, Sweden
• Galerie Thomas, München , Germany
• Alanda Arte Contemporanea, Carrara, Italy
• Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Bielefeld, Germany
• Galerie Proarta, Zurich, Switzerland
• Venice Design Art Gallery, Venice, Italy
• Martin Lawrence Galleries, San Francisco, California, USA
• Gallery Artzone-Kaguraoka, Kyoto
• Museum Jan van der Togt, Amstelveen, Netherlands
• Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2005
• Gallery Wild, Frankfurt, Germany
• Robert Sandelson Gallery, London, UK
• Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, California, USA
• Kaare Berntsen, Oslo, Norway.
• Movimento Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy.
• Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Rosenbaum Contemporary, Boca Raton
• Ohara Museum of Art, Kurashiki
• American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich
2006
• Kunstmuseum, Bern, Switzerland.
• Galerie Flintholm, Verster Skerninge, Denmark.
• Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, California.
• Galerie Lovers of Fine Art, Gstaad
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
• Galerie Kornfeld und Cie., Bern
• Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles
2007
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
• LC Galerie, Paris.
2008
• Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles.
• Galerie Proarta, Zurich.
• Galleria San Carlo, Milan.
• Galleria Repetto, Acqui-Termi.
2009
• College of the Canyons Art Gallery, Santa Clarita, California.
• American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich.
• Smith Andersen North, San Rafael, California.
• Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles.
• Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Bielefeld, Germany.
• L&M Arts, New York.
• Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London.
• Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam.
• Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke, Belgium.
2010
• Galerie Proarta, Zurich.
• Helly Nahmad Gallery, New York.
• Danubiana Art Museum, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
• Coskun Fine Art, London.
• Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany.
2011
• Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris.
• Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam.
• Galerie Thomas Modern, Munich.
• Page Gallery, Seoul.
• Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York.
• Nantenchi Gallery, Tokijo
• Galerie Kornfeld, Bern
• Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley
• Gallery Artzone-Kaguraoka, Kyoto
• Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery, San Francisco
• Galerie Son, Berlin
• Galerie Thomas Modern, Munich
2012
• PST, Berlin.
• Martin Lawrence Galleries, New York.
• Museum of Art, Santa Barbara.
• Iris Wazzau, Davos.
• Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam.
• Agnellini Arte Moderna, Brescia.
• Galleri MDA, Helsingborg.
2013
• Fondation Beijeler, Basel.
• Pasadena Museum of California Art- PMCA, Pasadena
• Malingue, Paris
• Galleria d’Arte Maggiore, Bologna
2014
• S2 Gallery, Sotheby�s, New York
• Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
• Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland
• Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles
• Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento
• Pasadena Museum of Art
• Museum Jan van der Togt, Amstelveen, Netherlands
• Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke, Belgium
• Greenfield Sacks Gallery, Santa Monica
• Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley
• Galerie Fleury, Paris
2015
• Galerie Diane Pollignac, Paris
• Tokyo Station Gallery, Toyama
• Van de Wege Fine Art, New York
• Centre Pompidou, Paris
• Bernard Jacobson Gallery – New York
• Bernard Jacobson Gallery – London
• Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Charlotte
• Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany
2016
• Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland
• Ma Galerie, Paris
• Gallery Delaive, Art New York
• Norton Simon Museum, Passadena
• Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Charlotte, North Carolina
• Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee
• Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, Texas
• Bernard Jacobsen Gallery, London
• Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles
• Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany
• Samuel Vanhoegaerden Gallery, Knokke, Belgium
• The University of British Columbia, Vancouver
2017
• Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
• Opera Gallery, Zurich
• Museum Jan van der Togt, Amstelveen, Netherlands
• Galeria Proarta, Zurich
• L A Louver Gallery, Venice
2018
• Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam
• Seizon Museum of modern art, Nagano, Japan
• Centre Pompidou, Metz, France
2019
• Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, New York
• Heather James Fine Art, Palm Desert
2020
- • Galerie Kornfeld, Bern
- • Flinn Gallery, Connecticut
- • San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo
- • David Benrimon Fine Art, New York
- • American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich
- • Galerie Carzaniga, Basel
- • Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Bielefield
- • Galerie A&R Fleury, Paris
- • Yokohama Museum of Art
2021
- • Museé d’Arts de Nantes, Nantes
- • Galerie Ludorff, Düsseldorf
- • Musée d’art de Pully, Switzerland
- • Galerie Ludorff, Düsseldorf
- • Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley, California
- • Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam
- • Musée Matisse, Nice
- • Marlborough Gallery, London
- • Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas
- • Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke
2022
- • Galerie Thomas, Munich
- • Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,
- • Israel Museum, Jerusalem
- • Galerie A&R Fleury, Paris
- • Fondation Linda et Guy Pieters, Saint-Tropez
- • Museum Barbernini, Potsdam
- • Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence
2023
- • Museum JAN, Amstelveen
- • Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,
- • Fralin Museum of Art, Virginia
- • Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
- • Galerie A&R Fleury, Paris
- • Stern Pissarro Gallery, London
- • Cobra Museum of Modern Art, Amstelveen