Untitled 1986

Sam Francis made this untitled painting with, well, paint, and a whole lot of it, thrown onto the canvas like a summer rain. The colors burst out, almost cartoon-like, but there’s a seriousness in the way they spread and stain. Looking closely, you can see how the paint pools and drips, each splatter telling a tiny story of its journey from brush to canvas. The deep reds at the center feel like a gravitational pull, while the blues and greens dance around the edges, creating a sense of endless space. There is a dark pool of color in the bottom left corner. It’s as if the whole painting is breathing, expanding and contracting with each color's gesture. Francis reminds me a bit of Joan Mitchell, both artists unafraid to let the paint speak for itself, but Francis has a lightness, a kind of joyful abandon, that’s all his own. It's like he’s inviting us to get lost in the process.