Sam Francis, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., vintage lithographic exhibition poster, 1968

Sam Francis, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
vintage lithographic exhibition poster

dimensions: 27 3/4” x 38”
date: 1968
condition: Excellent. This is a lithograph printed on thick stock paper; the colors are strong and bright. Minor toning along the edge is expected with age.

artist: Sam Francis (1923–1994), an American artist from California. He studied botany and medicine before art. Then a spinal infection (and later tuberculosis) left him bedridden for years.

Unable to stand at an easel, he let paint fall. Drip. Splatter. Float. His signature style—brilliant cells of color swimming in vast white space—was born from limitation, not freedom.

In 1968, the Smithsonian Institution published this lithographic poster of his work, the same year of the Tet Offensive. MLK and RFK assassinations. Riots in Paris, Chicago, and Washington. America's national museum chose to publish a poster of pure, weightless, radiant color - not escapism. Instead, as a quiet political act: insisting on beauty and light when the world is on fire.

Price: $579.99