Untitled (SFP94-133) - Sam Francis

A late-career abstract work by Sam Francis, featuring bold red forms against a stark white ground with gestural black and blue accents.

This work by Sam Francis, catalogued as SFP94-133, represents the final period of the artist's career. Francis, an American painter associated with the second generation of Abstract Expressionism, spent significant time in Paris, Tokyo, and California. His practice often involved the application of paint to white surfaces, allowing the negative space to function as an active component of the composition.

In this piece, the artist employs a bold, saturated red as the primary visual force. The application of paint suggests a fluid, gestural approach, where the medium appears to have been poured or dripped across the surface. The interaction between the dense, opaque red areas and the stark white ground creates a sense of spatial tension. Small, scattered marks in black and blue provide a counterpoint to the dominant red mass, suggesting a rhythmic, almost musical arrangement of forms.

Francis was known for his interest in the physical properties of paint and the way light interacts with colour. His later works often moved away from the all-over compositions of his earlier career, favouring more concentrated, energetic clusters of pigment. This print captures the immediacy of his brushwork and the clarity of his colour choices. The composition avoids traditional perspective, instead focusing on the surface plane and the relationship between the painted elements and the unpainted canvas. The result is a work that prioritises the direct experience of colour and form, reflecting the artist's long-term engagement with the possibilities of non-representational painting.