Untitled (SF71-045) 1971

Sam Francis made this untitled work with paint on paper. It's got these loose washes of colour – reds, greens, purples – kind of hanging out around a big, bright white space. I imagine Francis moving around the paper, letting the paint drip and bleed. Look how thin and watery it is, soaking right into the surface. It feels so free, like he's improvising. Those colours feel happy, generous, not overworked. You can see the hand in it all – the little splatters, the uneven edges. I see him, brush in hand, almost dancing with the paint. Francis always had a thing for colour, and this piece reminds me of Helen Frankenthaler’s soak-stain paintings, or even some of those late Matisses, all about feeling the light and air. It’s like he’s letting the painting breathe, letting it be itself. That blank space in the middle isn't empty, it's humming with possibility. It's as if he's inviting us to jump in and add our own colours to the conversation.