Sam Francis (1923-1994) belonged to the Abstract Expressionist school of painting, in which abstract forms suggest a variety of moods and emotions or relate in some formal way to patterns found in landscape, portraiture and so forth. He trained in Paris and travelled widely in Europe and also to Japan. Influences of Matisse, Bonnard and other great French colourists can be seen in his work as well as the effect on his imagination of Eastern religious philosophy and art. He enjoyed lithography and made endless proofs, so that he could incorporate the changes that constantly occurred to him. Like other artists of his generation who contributed to the resurgence of printmaking in the USA and Europe in the 1960s, he worked closely with professional printers, an interest that led him to set up his own print studio in Los Angeles in 1970.