Hommage to Alfred Jensen 1958

Sam Francis, made this, an homage to Alfred Jensen, using colour and, I'm guessing, pretty fluid paint. Looking at this, I can almost feel the joy and freedom Francis must have experienced in his process. There's a playful tension here between the thick, opaque blocks of colour – the reds, yellows, blues – and the splatters, drips, and trails of thinner paint that dance around them, almost like confetti. It's like he's letting the paint do its thing, giving in to the natural tendencies of the medium. And then, BAM, these assertive gestural marks in black assert themselves in the middle, creating a striking graphic feel. It reminds me of those Cy Twombly blackboard paintings, but with a sunnier disposition. It's like Francis is saying, "Hey, art can be serious, but it can also be a total blast!".