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Open 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Visit
Open today 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Admission is always free

6th and Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20565

Sculpture Garden Extended Hours

Open late until 8:00 p.m. on select nights
Starting June 3
Exhibitions & Events
Featured event:

Block Party
Join us June 6
Art & Artists
Open Call

Artists Reimagining the Collection
Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

First Stone

1960

Sam Francis

Associated Names

Sam Francis

Artist, American, 1923 - 1994

The image shows irregular shapes and splatters in deep blue, interspersed with smaller patches of yellow and red on a pale background. The central cluster of forms resembles torn paper scraps or floating icebergs, while fine splatter lines radiate outward. The distribution of the shapes and lines could be compared to a star map or an aerial view of islands in an ocean.

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Artwork overview

Medium

color lithograph on wove paper
Credit Line

Gift of the Woodward Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Dimensions

sheet: 63.18 × 90.49 cm (24 7/8 × 35 5/8 in.)
Accession Number

1976.56.25
Catalogue Raisonné

Lembark 1992, no. L1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Woodward Foundation, Washington, DC; acquired 1976 by the National Gallery of Art

Associated Names

Woodward Foundation

Exhibition History

1981

Contemporary American Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1981, unnumbered brochure.

Bibliography

1992

Lembark, Connie W. The Prints of Sam Francis: A Catalogue Raisonné, 1960-1990, vol. 1. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1992, p. 44, no. L1.

Inscriptions

lower left in graphite: 32/65; lower right in graphite: Sam Francis

Wikidata ID

Q65577140

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