Toward Disappearance III 1958

Editor: So, here we have Sam Francis's "Toward Disappearance III" from 1958, made with acrylic paint. I’m really drawn to the sense of spaciousness and, honestly, a kind of tentative quality. The colours cluster on one side and then…nothing. What strikes you most about it? Curator: Tentative is an interesting word. It reminds me of a haiku, the way it suggests so much with such sparse gestures. It's like Francis is whispering secrets about form and void, isn’t it? About what exists, and what’s…evaporating. Do you see the dance between the positive shapes and all that negative space? Editor: I do! It’s like he’s sculpted air as much as painted the…blobs? Is it about the fleeting nature of experience? Curator: Perhaps! I've always felt it hints at Eastern philosophies. The “disappearance” isn't necessarily a sad thing; maybe it’s about the ephemeral quality of everything. The idea that holding on too tightly just...smudges things. What if it's about finding beauty in the momentary? Editor: Oh, wow, I didn’t think about it that way. So it’s not necessarily dissolving into nothing, but maybe… transforming? Curator: Exactly! Francis himself had a lifelong fascination with light, with the idea of the canvas breathing. Notice how the drips almost look accidental but carry their own intentional weight. And ask yourself what becomes visible as something disappears? Editor: This painting's much more hopeful than I initially thought. Now I want to chase my own disappearances and find out. Curator: Excellent! It is more about discovering than seeing! I guess that’s something that both connects and defines us.