SAM FRANCIS (1923-1994), 'CLOUD ROCK' & 'KAYO 4 YEARS OLD - RED EYE', LITHOGRAPH, 1964
Original lithograph on white wove paper.
Printed by Maurice Beaudet in Paris and published by E. W. Kornfeld, of Bern, Switzerland.
Edition of 2000, unsigned as issued in the regular edition of Walasse Ting's '1¢ Life' portfolio of 1964.
Superb impression with good strong colours. With vertical fold in the centre of the sheet as with all impressions.
On the reverse side (pictured) are original lithographs by Walasse Ting and Karel Appel.
The '1¢ Life' portfolio included original lithographs by both the key players in the American Pop Art scene as well as masters of European Expressionism. The album also features poems by American/Chinese artist/poet Walasse Ting who spearheaded the project which was edited by Sam Francis.
Collections: British Museum, London, MOMA, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Stedelijk Collection, Amsterdam, National Gallery of Australia.
Reference: 'The Prints of Sam Francis A Catalogue Raisonné 1960-1990' by Connie Lembark, Cat. No. L.80 & L.81.
Image/Paper Size: 41 x 58.2 cm
Sam Francis was an American painter and printmaker. He was initially influenced by the work of abstract expressionists such as Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky and Clyfford Still. He later became loosely associated with a second generation of abstract expressionists, including Joan Mitchell and Helen Frankenthaler, who were increasingly interested in the expressive use of color.
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About One Cent Life:
1 Cent Life was conceived by Chinese born poet and artist Walasse Ting, who found himself at the crossroads between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art in the early sixties. Rather than emphasising the formal differences between the movements, Ting wanted to bring together a group of artists who were representative of both as a sort of visual manifesto to the period.
In 1962 he began discussing the idea of producing a book with his friend Sam Francis who quickly came on board as his co editor, and whose work, like Ting's, is generously printed throughout.
The result is an extraordinary and unique achievement in the history of publishing given the enormity of the task. It features original lithographs from some 28 artists along with Ting's jarring, scattershot poetry, and ranges from hard edges to splattered abstraction, graphic reproductions and appropriations. including Warhol's I Love Your Kisses Forever, in which Marilyn Monroe's isolated lips from the famous image he used of her, are repeated in a double spread in different colours.
Crucially, as well as established Abstract Expressionists such as Sam Francis and Joan Mitchell, a number of emerging Pop Artists agreed to submit work to the publication, including Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg. In Warhol and Lichtenstein's case, some of their earliest prints are represented in the portfolio.
1 Cent Life was dedicated to Florence Barron, a maverick Detroit-based contemporary art collector who famously commissioned Andy Warhol to produce his first self-portrait in 1963. It's widely assumed she funded the production due to her close relationship with Ting, her love of books, words and their relationship to contemporary art, advertising, media and culture, all of which are lavishly produced in a fantastic realisation of art and poetry.
The title '1 Cent Life' is intentionally ambiguous, referring to both the 'one cent life' poverty that Ting experienced early in his career or perhaps to 'one's sent life', such as the unique journey of Ting's from the small village of Wuxi to Shanghai, Paris and New York City, the center of the cosmopolitan art world. The title could also be a nod to a larger spiritual or artistic creator, who brought the unity of the collection together.
There is no hierarchy or order to '1 Cent Life', no single artist dominates the book and all pages are loose and removable. The book is steeped in a lawless, spontaneous and rowdy phantasmagoria colour scheme.
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Your print will be sent in an acid free acetate pocket securely between solid plastic sheeting.
Shipping abroad is via Royal Mail International Tracked. If you would like your item insured, shipping is via Fedex and please contact me for a quote. Fedex only for South America.
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