Untitled (Blue-Green) 1958

Sam Francis created this abstract artwork in an unknown year, using fluid applications of paint. Looking closely, you see the qualities of the medium itself are essential. The pigment is suspended in a liquid binder, allowing it to flow and pool across the surface, almost like dye. The translucent layers invite you to trace the artist's process. Francis seems to have embraced the inherent properties of paint. This allows for a sense of spontaneity, as if the work came into being through an intuitive dance between the artist and his materials. This approach to painting contrasts with earlier, more labored methods of representation. Francis reduces the distance between conception and execution. By celebrating the act of painting itself, he challenges traditional hierarchies of labor, and invites us to appreciate the beauty of pure materiality.