Self-Portrait 1973

This is Sam Francis’s self-portrait, a lithograph on paper where he stares off to the side. It’s monochrome, and the thin black lines are set against a subtle speckled grey. I can imagine Francis standing at the lithography stone, drawing the image directly, trying to capture something of himself. The minimal line suggests so much, the curve of the brow, the set of the lips. What was he thinking when he made this? Was he trying to capture a likeness, or something more? There's a sensitivity to the single weighted line, a real economy. It reminds me of Picasso’s line drawings. The history of painting is like an ongoing conversation, artists responding to each other across time. I think painting embraces uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations. It’s up to us to bring our own experiences to the work, to find our own meanings within it.