Untitled (SF 64-171) 1964

Sam Francis made this untitled painting with a riot of blues, yellows, and purples sometime in the mid-sixties. Look at the way the colors puddle and bleed, creating these luscious, organic shapes. It’s like he's letting the paint have a mind of its own, a real give-and-take between the artist and the medium. Up close, you can see how the paint is both delicate and forceful. See that thin black line dangling from the blue form at the top? It’s almost like a tear, or a stray thought escaping. And the way the colors drip and splatter, it's as if the painting came into being through a spontaneous act. I think Francis understood painting as a process of discovery, not just a way to represent something, but a record of an action. He reminds me a bit of Joan Mitchell, in the way both artists create these expansive fields of color that feel both chaotic and incredibly controlled. In the end, though, it’s all about the feeling, the pure sensation of color and movement.