- 11
Sam Francis
Description
- Sam Francis
- Untitled
- corten steel
- 194.5 by 142.9 by 49.5cm.
- 76 1/2 by 56 1/4 by 19 1/2 in.
Provenance
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Catalogue Note
Susan Einstein has discussed the significance of the artist’s inclination towards Eastern philosophy: ‘Francis later became interested in Eastern thought and in the spirit of Zen. The writer Alan Watts tells us that “Zen artists understand better than any others the value of empty spaces, and in a certain sense what they left out was more important than what they put in.” Francis, especially in his later work, has approached a unification of man and the elements which is essential if one is to achieve Satori’ (S. Einstein, in Peter Selz (ed.), Sam Francis, New York, 1975, p. 128). The concept of Satori – considered one of the first steps on the path to becoming Buddhist – refers to the idea of attaining enlightenment and self-understanding. Within Untitled, the play of the empty fields of space against the contrasting solidity of the steel structure arguably hints at this mental process, reinforcing the importance of intangible, empty space as a powerful vehicle for artistic expression.
Another example of Untitled resides within the gardens of the Huntington Museum in Pasadena.