List of large triptychs by Francis Bacon
Encyclopedia
Francis Bacon (painter)
Francis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
(1909–1992) painted 28 known large triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
s between 1944 and 1985–86. He began working in the format in the mid-1940s with a number of smaller scale works before graduating to large examples in 1962. He followed the larger style for 30 years, although he painted a number of smaller scale triptychs of friend's heads, and after the death of his former lover George Dyer in 1971, the three acclaimed "Black triptychs
Black Triptychs
The Black Triptychs are a series of three triptychs painted by the Irish born English artist Francis Bacon between 1972 and 1974. Bacon admitted that they were created as an exorcism of his sense of loss following the 1972 suicide of his former lover and principal model, George Dyer...
".
Bacon was a highly mannered artist and often became preoccupied with forms, themes, images and modes of expression that he would rework for sustained periods, often for six or seven year periods. When asked about his tendency for sequential or repetitive paintings, he explained how, in his mind, images revealed themselves "in series. And I suppose I could go long beyond the triptych and do five or six together, but I find the triptych is a more balanced unit."
He told critics that his usual practice with triptychs was to begin with the left panel and work across. Typically he completed each frame before beginning the next. As the work as a whole progressed, he would sometimes return to an earlier panel to make revisions, though this practice was generally carried out late in the overall work's completion.
As of 2010, half of the triptychs are in public collections.
List of large triptychs
| Image | Details |
|---|---|
|
|
|
Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion is a 1944 triptych painted by the Irish-born artist Francis Bacon. The work is based on the Eumenides—or Furies—of Aeschylus' The Oresteia, and depicts three writhing anthropomorphic creatures set against a flat burnt orange background... Oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varnish may be added to increase the glossiness of the... and pastel Oil pastel Oil pastel is a painting and drawing medium with characteristics similar to pastels and wax crayons. Unlike "soft" or "French" pastel sticks, which are made with a gum or methyl cellulose binder, oil pastels consist of pigment mixed with a non-drying oil and wax binder... on Sundeala board Tate Britain Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It... , London Erinyes In Greek mythology the Erinyes from Greek ἐρίνειν " pursue, persecute"--sometimes referred to as "infernal goddesses" -- were female chthonic deities of vengeance. A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "those who beneath the earth punish whosoever has sworn a false oath"... —or Furies—of Aeschylus Aeschylus Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"... ' The Oresteia The Oresteia The Oresteia is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus which concerns the end of the curse on the House of Atreus. When originally performed it was accompanied by Proteus, a satyr play that would have been performed following the trilogy; it has not survived... , donated to the Tate in 1953 by Bacon's lover, Eric Hall. Bacon painted Second Version of Triptych 1944 Second Version of Triptych 1944 Second Version of Triptych 1944 is a 1988 triptych painted by the Irish-born artist Francis Bacon. It is a reworking of Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, 1944, Bacon's most widely known triptych, and the one which established his reputation as England's foremost post-war... in 1988. |
|
|
Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement of the city. Created in 1947, it was then housed in the Palais de Tokyo and moved to its current location in 1977... , Centre Georges Pompidou Centre Georges Pompidou Centre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais... , Paris |
|
|
|
|
|
Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud, OM, CH was a British painter. Known chiefly for his thickly impasted portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time... . Freud also appears in Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969) and Three Portraits: Posthumous Portrait of George Dyer, Self-portrait, and Portrait of Lucian Freud (1973). Freud was also the subject of numerous smaller portraits by Bacon. |
|
|
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the... , Washington, D.C. |
|
|
Farah Pahlavi Farah Pahlavi is the former Queen and Empress of Iran. She is the widow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, and only Empress of modern Iran... , the wife of the last Shah of Iran for the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art Tehran's Museum of Contemporary Art is an art museum in Tehran, Iran.Inaugurated in 1977, and built adjacent to Tehran's Laleh Park, the museum was designed by Iranian architect Kamran Diba, who employed elements from traditional Persian architecture. The building can be listed as a contemporary... . Remained in storage for nearly two decades before display at Tate Britain Tate Britain Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It... in 2004. |
|
|
Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud, OM, CH was a British painter. Known chiefly for his thickly impasted portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time... . Freud also appears in Three Studies for a Portrait of Lucian Freud (1966) and Three Portraits: Posthumous Portrait of George Dyer, Self-portrait, and Portrait of Lucian Freud (1973). Freud was also the subject of numerous smaller portraits by Bacon. |
|
|
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia is the national art gallery of Australia, holding more than 120,000 works of art. It was established in 1967 by the Australian government as a national public art gallery.- Establishment :... , Canberra George Dyer -Life:He was educated at Christ's Hospital, and attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He edited the Delphin Classics, a 143-volume set of Greek and Latin works published by Abraham John Valpy at which task his editorial labors were so excessive as to induce near total blindness... . |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Black Triptychs The Black Triptychs are a series of three triptychs painted by the Irish born English artist Francis Bacon between 1972 and 1974. Bacon admitted that they were created as an exorcism of his sense of loss following the 1972 suicide of his former lover and principal model, George Dyer... (with Triptych–August 1972 and Triptych, May–June 1973 Triptych, May–June 1973 Triptych, May–June 1973 is a triptych completed in 1973 by the Irish-born artist Francis Bacon . The oil-on-canvas was painted in memory of Bacon's lover George Dyer who committed suicide on the eve of the artist's retrospective at Paris's Grand Palais, on 24 October 1971... ) painted by Bacon following the death of his lover, George Dyer. |
|
|
Tate Modern Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year... , London Triptych, May–June 1973 Triptych, May–June 1973 is a triptych completed in 1973 by the Irish-born artist Francis Bacon . The oil-on-canvas was painted in memory of Bacon's lover George Dyer who committed suicide on the eve of the artist's retrospective at Paris's Grand Palais, on 24 October 1971... ), painted by Bacon following the death of his lover, George Dyer. |
|
|
Eadweard Muybridge Eadweard J. Muybridge was an English photographer who spent much of his life in the United States. He is known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion which used multiple cameras to capture motion, and his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible... 's photographs of wrestlers |
|
|
|
|
 |
Triptych, May–June 1973 Triptych, May–June 1973 is a triptych completed in 1973 by the Irish-born artist Francis Bacon . The oil-on-canvas was painted in memory of Bacon's lover George Dyer who committed suicide on the eve of the artist's retrospective at Paris's Grand Palais, on 24 October 1971... Black Triptychs The Black Triptychs are a series of three triptychs painted by the Irish born English artist Francis Bacon between 1972 and 1974. Bacon admitted that they were created as an exorcism of his sense of loss following the 1972 suicide of his former lover and principal model, George Dyer... " (with Triptych – August 1972 and In Memory of George Dyer). Painted in memory of Dyer who committed suicide on the eve of Bacon's retrospective at Paris's Grand Palais Grand Palais This article contains material abridged and translated from the French and Spanish Wikipedia.The Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées, commonly known as the Grand Palais , is a large historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France... , on 24 October 1971, the triptych is a portrait of the moments before Dyer's death from an overdoes of pills in their hotel room. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian businessman and the main owner of the private investment company Millhouse LLC.In 2003, Abramovich was named Person of the Year by Expert, a Russian business magazine. He shared this title with Mikhail Khodorkovsky... Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian businessman and the main owner of the private investment company Millhouse LLC.In 2003, Abramovich was named Person of the Year by Expert, a Russian business magazine. He shared this title with Mikhail Khodorkovsky... , holds the record for the highest price paid for a post-war work of art at auction. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Study for a Self-Portrait—Triptych, 1985–86 Study for a Self-Portrait—Triptych, 1985–86 is a triptych painted between 1985 and 1986 by the Irish born artist Francis Bacon. The work is an acknowledgment and examination of the effect of age and time on the human body and spirit, and was painted after a period when many close friends of the... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Version of Triptych 1944 Second Version of Triptych 1944 is a 1988 triptych painted by the Irish-born artist Francis Bacon. It is a reworking of Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, 1944, Bacon's most widely known triptych, and the one which established his reputation as England's foremost post-war... Tate Britain Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It... , London Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion is a 1944 triptych painted by the Irish-born artist Francis Bacon. The work is based on the Eumenides—or Furies—of Aeschylus' The Oresteia, and depicts three writhing anthropomorphic creatures set against a flat burnt orange background... (1944). Painted by Bacon after the 1944 triptych was deemed too fragile to travel to New York for an exhibition. |
|
|
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world... , New York City Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time... , as well as a self-portrait of Bacon. |