Red No. 2

Sam Francis’s early work was largely informed by the Abstract Expressionists’ lyricism and strong emphasis on color harmony. Living in Paris in the 1950s, the artist came under the influence of the Impressionist painters Claude Monet and Paul Cézanne, as well as their early 20th-century successors Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse. After viewing Monet’s Nympheas at L’Orangerie in 1953, Francis transformed his palette from pale grays and muted hues to an explosive mixture of primary colors. With its juxtaposition of cadmium red and deep blue, a combination that makes the surface seem to pulsate, Red No. 2 exemplifies the vibrancy of Francis’s paintings from this era.