   samuel lewis francis (june 25, 1923, san mateo, california â november 4, 1994, santa monica, california) was an american painter and printmaker. ==early life== sam francis was born in san mateo, california,samuel l. francis foundation foundation website: about the artist page. samfrancisfoundation.com. retrieved on april 5, 2014. the son of katherine lewis francis and samuel augustus francis, sr. the 1935 death of his mother, who had encouraged his interest in music affected him deeply, but he later developed a strong bond with his stepmother, virginia peterson francis. francis served in the united states air force during world war ii before being injured during test flight maneuvers. he was in the hospital for several years, and it was while there, after being visited by artist david park in 1945, that he began to paint. once out of the hospital he returned to berkeley, this time to study art. he received both his ba degree (1949) and ma degree (1950) from university of california, berkeley, where he studied botany, medicine and psychology.  ==career and artistic development== francis 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. he spent the 1950s in paris, having his first exhibition there at the galerie nina dausset in 1952. while in paris he became associated with tachisme, and had his work championed by art critics michel tapiÃ© and claude duthuit ( the son-in-law of the painter henri matisse). between 1950 and 1958 francis spent tim
1923_births 1994_deaths 20th-century_American_painters Abstract_expressionist_artists Abstract_painters American_printmakers Art_Informel_and_Tachisme_painters Modern_painters Painters_from_California People_from_San_Mateo_County,_California