Sam Francis

American · 1923–1994 · Painter, Printmaker

Samuel Lewis Francis was an American painter and printmaker. (Wikipedia)

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1,411lots offered2001–2026years recorded87%sold (1,190)$4.6kSign up free to seemedian price

4 works by Sam Francis coming up at auction · bid with the house ↓

Record prices

Show prices also in

Deep Blue and BlackKornfeld · Jun 2010CHF 2,700,000≈ $2,430,297≈ £1,641,649≈ €1,964,353Sign up to see
GreenKornfeld · Sep 2021CHF 2,000,000≈ $2,155,400≈ £1,561,884≈ €1,829,711Sign up to see
Study for Moby DickKornfeld · Jun 2017CHF 730,000≈ $748,907≈ £586,504≈ €670,643Sign up to see

Sam Francis’s highest prices recorded at auction, ranked in US dollars at each sale-date exchange rate and shown in the currency of the sale (with the buyer’s premium where the house publishes it).

Coming up at auction

4 in forthcoming sales · bid with the house

Listed from the auction houses’ own websites; estimates are the houses’ own, not results.

Average price

$26.7kSign up free to see

median $4.6kfree account

High

$2.4MSign up free to see

auction record in database

Lots sold

1,190

of 1,367 offered · 2001–2026

Sell-through

87%

sold ÷ offered

Price trend

Each dot is a sold lot (price realized incl. premium where published, converted to USD at the sale-date rate; log scale). Dashed line: yearly median.

Showing 580 of 1,189 priced sales (evenly sampled; every year’s high and low included). Medians use all sales.

44 lot(s) offered at auction whose result the house did not publish are listed under “Also offered” on the results tab and excluded from these statistics.

1 sold lot(s) are awaiting a USD exchange rate and are excluded from averages.

By medium

Medium	Offered	Sold	Sell-through	Average	Median	High
Paintings	99	84	85%	$127kSign up	$55.9kSign up	$2.2MSign up
Oil	15	11	73%	$345kSign up	$100kSign up	$2.2MSign up
Acrylic	79	69	87%	$97.2kSign up	$50.9kSign up	$572kSign up
Mixed media	5	4	80%	$36.7kSign up	$30kSign up	$66.1kSign up
Works on paper	301	249	83%	$50.6kSign up	$26.4kSign up	$502kSign up
Watercolor	53	40	75%	$71.3kSign up	$36.1kSign up	$483kSign up
Gouache	40	35	88%	$84.1kSign up	$41.3kSign up	$502kSign up
Drawing	15	10	67%	$12kSign up	$9.3kSign up	$32.5kSign up
Prints & multiples	841	767	91%	$4.5kSign up	$2.8kSign up	$61.5kSign up
Etching	84	74	88%	$4.9kSign up	$2.9kSign up	$24.1kSign up
Aquatint	64	58	91%	$5.4kSign up	$4.6kSign up	$25.3kSign up
Lithograph	594	546	92%	$3.5kSign up	$2.4kSign up	$61.5kSign up
Screenprint	55	52	95%	$5.9kSign up	$3.6kSign up	$33kSign up
Woodcut / linocut	1	1	100%	$27.5kSign up	$27.5kSign up	$27.5kSign up
Print (other)	43	36	84%	$13.5kSign up	$9.8kSign up	$47.5kSign up
Other	126	90	71%	$57.7kSign up	$5.3kSign up	$2.4MSign up

Medium classes are derived from the medium text as published by each house; “Other” includes lots whose medium wasn’t stated.

By year

Year	Offered	Sold	Median
2026	106	95	$3.3kSign up
2025	170	155	$2.8kSign up
2024	144	126	$2kSign up
2023	109	89	$3.5kSign up
2022	151	121	$4.1kSign up
2021	140	129	$6.5kSign up
2020	60	44	$5.2kSign up
2019	79	68	$4.7kSign up
2018	62	59	$24.8kSign up
2017	79	72	$18.6kSign up
2016	54	51	$10kSign up
2015	35	26	$5.8kSign up
2014	27	27	$8.9kSign up
2013	35	23	$2.2kSign up
2012	20	16	$5.9kSign up
2011	17	17	$5.7kSign up
2010	9	9	$16.2kSign up
2009	12	12	$12.2kSign up
2008	10	8	$6.3kSign up
2007	15	14	$10.1kSign up
2006	12	12	$12.9kSign up
2005	12	8	$4.4kSign up
2004	5	5	$3.5kSign up
2003	1	1	$4kSign up
2002	2	2	$4.5kSign up
2001	1	1	$2kSign up