Self-Portrait 1973

Sam Francis made this self-portrait using lithography. It is an image that bubbles up, or perhaps melts down, out of a ground of pure process. The overall texture feels marbled and fluid, and the stark black and white creates an immediate drama. Look closely, and you can see how the ink pools and spreads, creating these almost planetary forms. There is a real sense of the push and pull of materials here. It feels like Francis relinquished control to the medium, letting the ink do its thing, yet the image remains a clear act of representation. The eye sockets are dark pools, the smile a tangle of lines. Is this a portrait of joy, madness, or something in between? Perhaps it’s all those things, mixed and churning together. Francis, like Joan Mitchell, had a knack for making paintings that feel both chaotic and deeply felt. They remind us that art is not about answers, but about embracing the beautiful, messy questions of being human.