Untitled (SFP94-149, SFF.1819) 1994

Here's an untitled painting made by Sam Francis. Looking at these washes of orange, black, and indigo... It feels like watching a storm gather, right? I can almost see him, in his studio, letting the paint flow and pool, coaxing these shapes into existence, a dance of control and surrender. I imagine him thinking about colour, about the way one hue bleeds into another, creating these unexpected textures and gradients. See that splash of orange over there? It’s almost like a burst of energy, a moment of pure spontaneity frozen in time. Francis’s work reminds me of Helen Frankenthaler’s soak-stain paintings. It’s all about letting the paint do its thing, embracing the happy accidents along the way. Painters are always talking to each other across time. Each brushstroke is like a little message sent out into the world, waiting to be received and understood. It invites us to slow down, to look closely, and to find our own meaning within its swirling depths.