A man in a suit appears against the darkness. We can just make out that he is sitting on a sofa with his legs crossed, but his face and body are contorted, creating a sinister impression. This was a style unique to Francis Bacon, who used distortion to reveal what he thought was the true identity of his subjects.
Recent research suggests the model for this painting was Bacon’s lover, Peter Lacy, who died the year after it was made. The distorted form captures both Lacy's true identity, which Bacon regarded as being “unstable and nervous,” and the painter's own emotional investment in the decade-long relationship they shared.
(MATSUNAGA Shintaro)
A man in a suit appears against the darkness. We can just make out that he is sitting on a sofa with his legs crossed, but his face and body are contorted, creating a sinister impression. This was a style unique to Francis Bacon, who used distortion to reveal what he thought was the true identity of his subjects.
Recent research suggests the model for this painting was Bacon’s lover, Peter Lacy, who died the year after it was made. The distorted form captures both Lacy's true identity, which Bacon regarded as being “unstable and nervous,” and the painter's own emotional investment in the decade-long relationship they shared.
(MATSUNAGA Shintaro)
■Related
・Kanai-Bridle Mayuko “Research Notes on Francis Bacon’s Seated Figure”(PDF)
（”Bulletin of Yokohama Museum of Art,” No. 21, Yokohama Museum of Art, 2020, pp. 8, 61-71 [in Japanese], 78 [summery in English]）