Three Studies for a Self-Portrait

Artist Francis Bacon (British, 1909 - 1992)

Date1983

GeographyEngland

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsFrame: 19 3/8 × 45 1/4 × 2 in. (49.2 × 114.9 × 5.1 cm)
Each portrait: 13 3/4 × 12 in. (34.9 × 30.5 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry B. Clark, Jr., 1983 (5165.1)

Object number5165.1

DescriptionThree separate depictions of the head and neck of the artist. The palette consists of a black background and a limited range of flesh tones that are subdued and darkened with geys and ochres and highlighted sparingly with bright pink orange and white; the grey hair is also lit with ochre. This techique of “crowding the darks” contrasts the mass of black in the background with the concentrated light on the faces, which are each poised differently on the bottom margin of the canvases (the bases of the necks providing the pivotal points). While a few crisp white strokes come forward, the pervading softer modulations take the heads back into the shadow realm. The left panel has a 3/4 view positioned at a slant; it is the most vigorous portrayal, with a prominent vein in the neck, an open eye and deep modelling with strong distortion in the areas of the receding brow and eye sockets. The right portrait is a profile, distended at the chin and jowels, with closed eyes; as the head is pushed against the right edge, half the panel is black. The central portrait is the most centered in the panel and the most serene; it is a full face, also with closed eyes. In each depiction the mouth is slightly opened and the pink parallel lines overlaying the modelling of the lips suggest, to a greater of lesser degree, the expiration of breath.

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