Francis, Sam 1923 San Mateo - 1994 Santa Monica/CA Untitled. (SFP 90-20). 1990. Oil on canvas. 76 x 40,5cm. Signed and dedicated on verso: For Helen, Sam Francis. Craftman's frame. A confirmation of the Samuel L. Francis Foundation is at hand. Provenance: Private collection, England Gallery Delvaive, Amsterdam Sam Francis' paintings are characterised by their positive colour intensity and their simultaneous, "zen-like" harmony. Pontus Hulten attributes a "self-evidence" to Francis' which is due to the artist's great certainty. "This oeuvre is characterised by the completeness, the complete interaction and integration of the single elements which constitute these paintings: size, colour, scale, etc. It resembles perfection and is therefore partly inexplicable. The paintings radiate great intelligence, an intelligence which doesn't ask questions but radiates pleasure, a certain balance and calmness. And there is always a certain distance preserved between the universe in these paintings and the rest of the world. (.) Sam Francis confirmed that there were no sketches to his paintings. He says: "A sketch has to be spontaneous. A painting needn't be spontaneous, but it can be. I don't create sketches for a certain painting, I don't prepare the painting, it's myself I prepare.(.). (Pontus Hulten, Das Innere der Engel, in Sam Francis, The Shadow of Colors, ed. Ingrid Mössinger, Edition Stemmle, 1995, p. 18).