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Lot Essay
Bursting onto the canvas in a vivid rainbow of hues, Sam Francis’s 1980 work, Untitled, touts the mastery of color that could only come from a decades long career. Splashed onto the canvas in unwavering motion, the jewel tones of Untitled exist in a harmonious state of anarchy, reaching over each other in an invigorating scene of surprising delight. Pools of deep red seep swiftly through the fibers of the canvas, creeping up diagonal planes and crashing into ocean blue rivers in a stir that lends itself to the neighboring violets. Florets of aquatic teal grow steadily into the space of the other hues, stretching long arms in the hopes of merging with the collective whole of independent pigments. Then, lifting the canvas from the depth of color swirling within, stars of sunny yellow pop onto the stage in small electrifying patches of brilliant contrast, bringing a joyful aura into the chaotically mesmerizing work. Intersecting with these wells of pigment, beams of apparent gravity wash the puddles inwards, pulling the disorderly and independent paints towards a structured system of linear creations. These channels provide somewhat of a resting point for the viewer’s eyes, giving familiar shape and form to the abstract playground that so well exemplifies the whimsically concentrated efforts of the ever expressive Sam Francis.
In the late 1970s and early 80s, the portfolio of Sam Francis underwent a notable shift. With his work in the mid to late 60s trending more minimalistic, the artist seemed to be straying from the colorful vigor and imaginative passion that had come to represent the greatest pieces of his career thus far. By the early 70s, Francis was back to creating with grandiose color, but this newly invigorated style was perhaps not fully flushed out until he began his work with the grid later in the decade. A subject of longstanding fascination, the concept of the grid typically conjures imagery of Piet Mondrian and the rigid forms that bear little resemblance to the work presented here. The grid, however was a key aspect of Francis’s revitalized oeuvre with his Matrix paintings ushering in a new era of work reflective of the artist’s matured career. Untitled comes at the tail end of Francis’s matrix work, the creation of a freshly emboldened artist toying with the classical grid in a flurry of his signature childlike wonderment. As Donald Kuspit said of these later Francis pieces, the artist was able to design a “sense of finished form while maintaining a sense of formlessness: he heroically wrests classic beauty out of romantic chaos” (D. Kuspit quoted in W. C. Agee, Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990, exh. cat. Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1999, pp 43).
Crossing, dissolving, and breaking away, Francis’s linear forms seem to appear out of thin air, composed of splotches of paint mysteriously halting at a definite edge, somehow in harmony with the edges of their neighboring pools. This enigmatic effect, Francis created using wet roller brushes drawn along the canvas. The water on the surface served as a guide for the pigments added while it was still wet, pulling the disorderly paints into its formulated structure only to disappear as it dried leaving the memories of its form behind. Easy to miss in a quick glance, these linear patterns truly set the later creations of Francis apart in his larger body of work. The complete confidence in his usage of pure and diluted color added to the water’s schematic builds an almost formalist shape of optimistic energy.
Despite this structural creation, however, Francis always viewed his work as existing beyond simple form. “My work isn’t illustrative of anything. My aim is to get to the essence, not to reproduce an outer image. I want to reach something deeper, something more primeval” (S. Francis, quoted in Sam Francis, exh. cat. Museo d’arte, Mendrisio, 1997, pp 59). Constantly stiving to emulate experience beyond what lies on the canvas, Francis imbued his work with distinctive feeling that radiates through color and motion out of the flat surface. Though the artist delt with many hardships throughout his life, most notably a years long hospital stint during which he was bedridden and on the edge of death, much of Francis’s portfolio remained excitingly sanguine. Untitled with its vivacious hues, invigorated brushstrokes, and jovial movement brings forth a childlike sense of whimsy from a painter in the midst of artistic self-rediscovery.
In the late 1970s and early 80s, the portfolio of Sam Francis underwent a notable shift. With his work in the mid to late 60s trending more minimalistic, the artist seemed to be straying from the colorful vigor and imaginative passion that had come to represent the greatest pieces of his career thus far. By the early 70s, Francis was back to creating with grandiose color, but this newly invigorated style was perhaps not fully flushed out until he began his work with the grid later in the decade. A subject of longstanding fascination, the concept of the grid typically conjures imagery of Piet Mondrian and the rigid forms that bear little resemblance to the work presented here. The grid, however was a key aspect of Francis’s revitalized oeuvre with his Matrix paintings ushering in a new era of work reflective of the artist’s matured career. Untitled comes at the tail end of Francis’s matrix work, the creation of a freshly emboldened artist toying with the classical grid in a flurry of his signature childlike wonderment. As Donald Kuspit said of these later Francis pieces, the artist was able to design a “sense of finished form while maintaining a sense of formlessness: he heroically wrests classic beauty out of romantic chaos” (D. Kuspit quoted in W. C. Agee, Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990, exh. cat. Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1999, pp 43).
Crossing, dissolving, and breaking away, Francis’s linear forms seem to appear out of thin air, composed of splotches of paint mysteriously halting at a definite edge, somehow in harmony with the edges of their neighboring pools. This enigmatic effect, Francis created using wet roller brushes drawn along the canvas. The water on the surface served as a guide for the pigments added while it was still wet, pulling the disorderly paints into its formulated structure only to disappear as it dried leaving the memories of its form behind. Easy to miss in a quick glance, these linear patterns truly set the later creations of Francis apart in his larger body of work. The complete confidence in his usage of pure and diluted color added to the water’s schematic builds an almost formalist shape of optimistic energy.
Despite this structural creation, however, Francis always viewed his work as existing beyond simple form. “My work isn’t illustrative of anything. My aim is to get to the essence, not to reproduce an outer image. I want to reach something deeper, something more primeval” (S. Francis, quoted in Sam Francis, exh. cat. Museo d’arte, Mendrisio, 1997, pp 59). Constantly stiving to emulate experience beyond what lies on the canvas, Francis imbued his work with distinctive feeling that radiates through color and motion out of the flat surface. Though the artist delt with many hardships throughout his life, most notably a years long hospital stint during which he was bedridden and on the edge of death, much of Francis’s portfolio remained excitingly sanguine. Untitled with its vivacious hues, invigorated brushstrokes, and jovial movement brings forth a childlike sense of whimsy from a painter in the midst of artistic self-rediscovery.