Description
Book SynopsisThe first in-depth biography of Sam Francis, the legendary American abstract painter who broke all the rules in his personal and artistic life. Light on Fire is the first comprehensive biography of Sam Francis, one of the most important American abstract artists of the twentieth century. Based on Gabrielle Selz's unprecedented access to Francis's files, as well as private correspondence and hundreds of interviews, this book traces the extraordinary and ultimately tragic journey of a complex and charismatic artist who first learned to paint as a former air-corps pilot encased for three years in a full-body cast. While still a young man, Francis saw his color-saturated paintings fetch the highest prices of any living artist. His restless desire resulted in five marriages and homes on three continents; his entrepreneurial spirit led to founding a museum, a publishing company, a reforestation program and several nonprofits. Light on Fire captures the art, life, personality, and talent of a man whom the art historian and museum director William C. Agee described as a rare artist participating in the visionary reconstruction of art history, defying creative boundaries among the likes of Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning. With settings from World War II San Francisco to postwar Paris, New York, Tokyo, and Los Angeles, Selz crafts an intimate portrait of a man who sought to resolve in art the contradictions he couldn't resolve in life.
Trade Review"Quality research supplies a dramatis personae that's a hit list of 20th-century art giants. . . . An engaging read, avoiding hagiography. This biography of a mercurial rogue has something to amuse or annoy most aficionados." * Library Journal *
"Selz’s engaging book gamely takes readers along for the ride as Francis hops between countries, lovers, and commissions, eternally courting the change and drama that fueled his work. . . . Selz manages to capture the expansive, unwieldy story of Francis — a vivacious, ego-absorbed searcher — in both his intimate and larger-than-life moments."
* Hyperallergic *
"Selz's writing achieves a depth of feeling, marked sympathy, and a grasp of the man as well as the myth, with an insider's knowledge of his gigantic, imperfect life. Elegant and precise, her writing paints a captivating portrait of this complex artist." * East Hampton Star *
“Selz’s engaging book gamely takes readers along for the ride as Francis hops between countries, lovers, and commissions, eternally courting the change and drama that fueled his work. . . . Selz manages to capture the expansive, unwieldy story of Francis—a vivacious, ego-absorbed searcher—in both his intimate and larger-than-life moments.” * Hyperallergic *
"The first full biography of the artist, its existence is more than justified by the remarkable facts and dramatic episodes of Francis’s life. . . . Selz . . . succeeds at maintaining a scholarly distance, casting Francis as a highly imperfect if charismatic and larger-than-life character." * Leonardo *
"Gabrielle Selz’s accomplished biography of American abstract artist Sam Francis,
Light on Fire, investigates the artist-muse relationship . . . obliquely . . . but with no less nuance. . . . Selz uses the case study of one 'genius' artist to deconstruct the very concept of artistic genius, at the core of which lies total emotional impotence. That emotional impotence, of course, wreaks havoc in their lives." * Los Angeles Review of Books *
"About a quarter of the way into Gabrielle Selz’s
Light on Fire: The Art and Life of San Francis, I found myself thinking: this book should be a movie. . . .
Light on Fire delivers a riveting portrait of a man driven (and riven) by huge appetites: for painting, women, fame, family, philanthropy and, most of all, a desire to pierce the veil separating life and death. . . .The book unfolds like a page-turner.”
* Square Cylinder *
“About a quarter of the way into Gabrielle Selz’s Light on Fire: The Art and Life of San Francis, I found myself thinking: this book should be a movie. . . . Light on Fire delivers a riveting portrait of a man driven (and riven) by huge appetites: for painting, women, fame, family, philanthropy and, most of all, a desire to pierce the veil separating life and death. . . . The book unfolds like a page-turner.”
* Square Cylinder *
"A comprehensive look into the life and work of a complex artist who played an important role in the history of American art." * CHOICE *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
Part I 1923–1950
Color is light on fire
1. Traumatic Beginnings
2. First Love, First Muse
3. An Unexpected Battle
4. The Keys to the Kingdom
5. A First Coalescence
Part II 1950–1956
Paris was the psychic mother of me
6. A Tiny Room at the Hôtel de Seine
7. Ambition and Lies
8. I Paint Time
9. A Homecoming of Joy and Anguish
Part III 1956–1962
Go as far as you can as fast as you can
10. Wanderlust
11. Feverish Intensity
12. An Internationalist in New York
13. I Am a Seismograph
14. A Dance with Mr. Death
Part IV 1962–1985
I am your change-bearer, I am your instrument of expansion
15. Resurrection
16. I Love My Desires
17. The Space at the Center Is Reserved for You
18. The Artist Is His Work and No Longer Human
19. My Consciousness Is an Image
20. Art Is the Heart of the Matter
21. A New Era for Los Angeles
22. My Virtue Is to Be Myself
Part V 1986–1994
I am steering by the torch of chaos and doubt
23. Don't Be Sorry for Nothing
24. Death Is a Curve in Harmony with Life
Epilogue
Notes on Sources
Illustration Credits
Index
