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Lot Essay
The Basel Murals by Sam Francis were commissioned by Arnold Rüdlinger in November of 1956 for the Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland. The murals, comprised of three unique panels, and were placed in the grand stairwell until 1964. It was at this time, during transport, two panels were affected due to climate changes and while one canvas was conserved, Francis decided to convert the second canvas into four paintings. Francis turned to his great friend and patron, the collector Betty Freeman, who provided the financial assistance to have the remaining canvas conserved and restretched into four separate paintings. Of the four paintings, one is in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, another is the Norton Simon Museum, Pasedena. For her generosity and support Francis gave Betty two canvases for her role in the preservation of the mural.
This commission, along with his subsequent commission for the Sogetsu School in Tokyo, Japan, represented Francis's adoption of what would become his signature large and open format paintings. Greatly inspired by Claude Monet's Nymphéas murals for the Orangerie in Paris (1920-1926), Francis wished to continue with this grand triptych tradition with this commission and is clearly influenced by both their scale and their depiction of an abstracted watery landscape. The two mural series invoke the serenity one can usually only find in a tranquil garden and conjure the aesthetic of Japanese panels and prints that were influential to both the artists.
Inspired by its designated location, Francis was determined to create compositions that would flood the Kunsthalle's stairwell with bright colors and light. Due in part to their massive scale, the three Basel Murals necessitated that Francis apply broad, fluid brushstrokes and also led to a pervasive use of open "windows" of white, surrounded by brilliant shades of yellows, blues and reds. Of the process, Francis wrote, "it is like filling great sails with color," speaking both to freedom he employed to the application of paint and the expressive way in which he filled the enormous canvases (W.C. Agee, "Sam Francis: A Painter's Dialogue with Color, Light, and Space," in Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of Canvas and Panel Painting, 1946-1994, ed. Debra Burchett-Lere, Univeristy of California Press, Berkley, 2011, p76).
The two present panels from Basel Mural III are powerful examples of Francis's rich and dramatic use of color and space, and remain imbued with the expressive energy that pervaded the triptych as a whole. The last two panels of its kind to remain in private hands, the pieces represent a watershed moment in the artist's career, as he synthesizes the whole of his unique influences and experiences into one signature style that he adapts as his own.
This commission, along with his subsequent commission for the Sogetsu School in Tokyo, Japan, represented Francis's adoption of what would become his signature large and open format paintings. Greatly inspired by Claude Monet's Nymphéas murals for the Orangerie in Paris (1920-1926), Francis wished to continue with this grand triptych tradition with this commission and is clearly influenced by both their scale and their depiction of an abstracted watery landscape. The two mural series invoke the serenity one can usually only find in a tranquil garden and conjure the aesthetic of Japanese panels and prints that were influential to both the artists.
Inspired by its designated location, Francis was determined to create compositions that would flood the Kunsthalle's stairwell with bright colors and light. Due in part to their massive scale, the three Basel Murals necessitated that Francis apply broad, fluid brushstrokes and also led to a pervasive use of open "windows" of white, surrounded by brilliant shades of yellows, blues and reds. Of the process, Francis wrote, "it is like filling great sails with color," speaking both to freedom he employed to the application of paint and the expressive way in which he filled the enormous canvases (W.C. Agee, "Sam Francis: A Painter's Dialogue with Color, Light, and Space," in Sam Francis: Catalogue Raisonné of Canvas and Panel Painting, 1946-1994, ed. Debra Burchett-Lere, Univeristy of California Press, Berkley, 2011, p76).
The two present panels from Basel Mural III are powerful examples of Francis's rich and dramatic use of color and space, and remain imbued with the expressive energy that pervaded the triptych as a whole. The last two panels of its kind to remain in private hands, the pieces represent a watershed moment in the artist's career, as he synthesizes the whole of his unique influences and experiences into one signature style that he adapts as his own.