Composition #6

work registered with the Sam Francis Foundation under code SF59-257

Measures with frame inch 29,7 x 43,1

“Composition No. 6” (1959) by Sam Francis presents itself as a vibrant explosion of light and color suspended within a white void that simultaneously confines and amplifies its power. Painted on paper using a mixed technique of gouache and watercolor, the work displays the full freshness of the medium, allowed to flow in broad swaths of pure yellow on the left side, contrasted by a hefty black-and-violet patch descending obliquely toward the center. The chromatic contrast—sunny yellow, deep blue, rich black, and touches of red—creates an almost musical rhythm, as if each brushstroke were a distinct note within an open score.

The dominant white area occupying the central and right portions of the sheet is not merely a background: it becomes active space, a stage on which droplets and marks testify to an intense pictorial action, a dialogue between control and chance. Fine splatters of color, faded drips, and small scratches trace lines of dynamic tension, suggesting the artist’s movements that verge on the performative gesture of action painting.

Within Francis’s oeuvre, fresh from his Californian experience and under Jackson Pollock’s influence, “Composition No. 6” marks a moment of synthesis: on one hand, his attraction to large-scale, gestural painting; on the other, a return to the lightness and transparency of watercolor pigments. This is the year in which the artist begins to probe more keenly the dimension of emptiness, foreshadowing his great “Blue Balls” series of the 1960s, in which vast unpainted areas become as prominent as the color itself.

The compositional balance rests on an ideal triangle connecting the dark mass, the yellow section, and the column of blue on the right: three poles in dialogue over a broad plane of silence. This tripartite tension evokes both the structure of an inner landscape and the rhythm of a symphonic score, where pauses—the white—are as essential as the notes. It is a work that invites the eye to linger, to be traversed by a sense of suspension and anticipation.

Finally, “Composition No. 6” attests to Francis’s exploration of the relationship between action and contemplation. The color is applied with force and speed, yet immediately counterbalanced by the delicacy of the watercolors, as if the artist oscillates between emotional intensity and meditative reflection. It is these oscillations that render the work particularly modern: even in its apparent chaos, the painting retains an internal order that speaks of harmony and equilibrium, making every droplet and every scratch a gesture charged with meaning and poetry.

Pubblications

“Modern American Painting” – USIS Gallery, American Embassy, Londra – 26/05-10/06/1991

“Sam Francis: The Early Years 1955-1963” – André Emmerich Gallery, New York – 02/09-11/10/1986

“Selected Works II from the Gallery’s Collection” – André Emmerich Gallery, New York – 27/04-17/05/1989

“Sam Francis” – Galleria Agnellini Arte Moderna, Brescia – 21/04-14/07/2012, cat. p. 29 (ill. col.)

“American Dream” – Galleria Agnellini Arte Moderna, Brescia, dal 27/10/12 al 16/03/13 pp. 70 – 73 ill. colori.

A vibrant and dynamic work from 1959 by Sam Francis, executed in gouache and watercolor on paper, a striking example of American Abstract Expressionism, showcasing the artist’s masterful use of color, gesture, and space.
The composition radiates energy and balance, reflecting Francis’s exploration of light and movement.