Bright with shooting streak of intense yellows and oranges, Sam Francis Monotype Untitled, 1983 is filled with stunning emotion. Francis creates a beautiful symmetry over his entire piece by placing bold swaths of red, yellow, and pink at the upper and lower register of Untitled, 1983. The reds run parallel to one another, and their tapered tails give them the appearance of flying across the sheet. The yellow and pinks are slightly tilted towards one another, putting them on a collision course. The slightly offset nature of those colors pleasingly breaks up the symmetry. In addition to the consistent coloring, smaller ovular shapes colored with red, pink, black, and yellow lurk on the top and bottom of the canvas. Their coloring – though intense – is rendered in a way that looks organic.

Untitled, 1983 is made up of much more than the largest color elements. Looking through the animated blue splatter is a wood grain texture that backs the hold image. Francis has managed to create a multitude of texture in Untitled, 1983. Some color has been applied in more painterly strokes, other has been dribbled on, and yet other still is splotchy. Overall the work has a delightful depth that is helped by the overlapping of colors and textures, and a complexity that Francis recreated many times in his vast oeuvre. It is this great skill combined with him being an incredible colorist, which makes his work so wonderful to behold.

Created in 1983, this unique original color monotype with oil paint and ink on handmade paper is hand signed by Sam Francis (San Mateo, 1923- Santa Monica, 1994) in pencil in the lower right corner; a unique and original work.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

1. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:

Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Sam Francis Untitled, 1983 is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.