Sam Francis x Hans Hartung | Beyond Limits

Hans Hartung and Sam Francis played with the contrasts of different pigments to bring out luminosity and intensity in their paintings. In Sam Francis’ work, the treatment of light can be compared to the technique of the great masters of Fauvist and Impressionist painting. He layered his bright colours and let the white of the background shine through to produce a clarity similar to that which can be found in the work of Matisse or Derain. Francis replicated this tradition on his own paintings in order to generate a luminosity that spreads over the entire surface. He also took pleasure in choosing his famous “pairs of opposites”, such as blue and orange or red and green. The artist liked the purity of the pigments which he juxtaposed to bring out the white — a colour he saw as noble. Without doubt he was inspired by the colorimetric discoveries of the previous century which proved that white light could be recomposed based on color theory (red, green, blue). Francis did not mix his paints, prefering to use pure colours which he diluted with water to create nuances. The purity brought out the superiority of the white colour.

In the 1960s, Hans Hartung developed his “grattage” technique and focusing on the luminosity that radiates from it. Unlike Sam Francis, who spread light over the entirety of his work, Hans Hartung preferred to create a duality of shadows and light by playing with colour contrasts. After layering muted colors on a lighter background, he then scratched the material to give an almost neon effect to his scrapings.

Hartung was undoubtedly influenced by the chiaroscuro of his photography — another reccurent practice of his.  He would purposefully take back-lit pictures that emphasised the luminous aspect of black-and-white photographs by means of strong contrasts. In the early 1960s era, Hartung began to incorporate new materials, such as vinyl paint and acrylic. Their shorter drying time emboldened Hartung to work even more quickly on the surface of his paintings. The chromatic strenght of his pigments is revealed thanks to the scratching of the darker layers, producing an additional effect of light and depth. Hans Hartung kept his movements sharp and precise to successfully create his splinters of light.