Untitled (SF55-003) 1955

Sam Francis made this Untitled painting using a combination of saturated blues, greens, and reds. I can almost feel him coaxing these shapes into being, shifting the colors around until they feel just right. It makes me think about the studio – the energy in the room, the kind of trial and error that comes with painting. Francis’s strokes are pretty confident. Look at that pool of green, almost dripping down the page, or those red splatters on the side. They really communicate a sense of freedom. I get a real kick out of the way he lets the paint do its thing, bleed and merge into the canvas. Francis was part of a whole scene of painters playing with gesture and color. There’s a conversation happening between artists across time. They inspire each other, reacting against each other, each trying to find new ways to express something unique through paint. For me, these paintings are an invitation to get lost in the moment.