Sam Francis was an American artist who produced many prints during his lifetime, more so than any of the other abstract expressionist artists he associated with. He studied art at Berkeley College, California under Mark Rothko and Clifford Still and was influenced by the work of Jackson Pollock. The expressive nature of colour became one of his preoccupations and he was assocated with the second generation of abstract expressionist artists, including Helen Frankethaler and Joan Mitchell. In 1970 he established the Litho Shop which was his own printing workshop in Santa Monica, California. Between 1960 and 1990 he made over 300 lithographs, 200 screenprints and 125 etchings as well as a number of unique experimental and trial proofs. Experimentation was an integral part of his printmaking process.