Dewy Unicorn 1972

Sam Francis made this painting, Dewy Unicorn, with acrylic on paper. The way Francis works, with this all-over splatter, feels like a game of chance, kind of like when you were a kid, and you'd flick paint off your brush just to see what would happen. But look closer, and you'll see it’s anything but random. There’s this gorgeous push and pull, the way the colors react against each other. The pinks and reds are so intense, but they're balanced by these calming blues and greens. The way the paint sits on the surface, sometimes thin and transparent, sometimes thick and opaque, gives it a real tactile quality. See that cluster of red in the upper right? It's like a tiny, contained explosion. It encapsulates the energy of the whole piece. Francis reminds me a bit of Joan Mitchell, in the sense that both artists aren't afraid to just let loose. Ultimately, this painting is about the pure joy of applying paint to a surface.