The White Line 1960

Sam Francis created "The White Line", an abstract lithograph, with vibrant blues, reds, and yellows against a stark white background. Francis, who had a complicated and difficult upbringing, served in the Air Force during World War II and sustained a spinal injury which kept him hospitalized for several years. It was here that he began to paint. Francis became associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement, and his works reflect a departure from traditional artistic representation. "The White Line" seems to evoke a sense of unbounded freedom, an emotion which seems to be at odds with the severe constraints of military service and a long hospital stay. The splattered paint and open composition, seem to reject structure and embrace spontaneity. Francis once spoke of his art as, "an opening up, a penetration into the silent world." "The White Line" serves not just as an aesthetic statement, but as a testament to the artist’s exploration of self and liberation through art.