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."[2]
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 2024, half of the triptychs are in public collections.
Details |
- Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion
- 1944
- Oil and pastel on Sundeala board
- 94 cm × 74 cm (37 in × 29 in)
- Tate Britain, London
- Based on the Eumenides—or Furies—of Aeschylus' The Oresteia, donated to the Tate in 1953 by Bacon's lover, Eric Hall. Bacon painted Second Version of Triptych 1944 in 1988.
|
- Three Studies for a Crucifixion
- 1962
- Oil and sand on canvas
- 198.2 x 145cm (78 x 57 in)
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City
|
- Three Figures in a Room 1964
- 1964
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
- Has been described as Bacon's first "secular triptych".
|
- Crucifixion (1965)
- 1965
- Oil and acrylic on canvas
- 197.5 cm × 147 cm (78 in × 58 in)
- Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
|
- Three Studies for a Portrait of Lucian Freud
- 1966
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection
- The first of three large triptychs depicting Lucian Freud. 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.
|
- Triptych inspired by T.S Elliot's Poem Sweeney Agonistes
- 1967
- Oil and pastel on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78.25 x 57.25 in)
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
- Inspired by the poem Sweeney Agonistes by T. S. Eliot, first triptych to feature figures on a bed.
|
- Two Figures Lying on a Bed with Attendants
- 1968
- Oil and pastel on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran
- Purchased in 1972 by Farah Pahlavi, the wife of the last Shah of Iran for the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Remained in storage for nearly two decades before display at Tate Britain in 2004.[3]
|
- Three Studies of Lucian Freud
- 1969
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection
- The second of three large triptychs depicting Lucian Freud. 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. Sold by Christie's in New York on 13 November 2013, at $142m (£89m), it became the most expensive artwork ever auctioned.[4]
|
- Triptych 1970
- 1970
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
- Purchased 1973, central panel features figures inspired by Eadweard Muybridge's photograph of wrestlers. Left and right panels feature Bacon's lover, George Dyer.[5]
|
- Three Studies of the Male Back
- 1970
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57.5 in)
- Kunsthaus, Zurich
|
- Triptych – Studies of the Human Body (1970)
- 1970
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 58.5 in)
- Private collection of Jacques Hachuel, Paris.
|
- Triptych – Studies from the Human Body (1970)
- 1970
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection of Jacques Hachuel, Paris.
|
- In Memory of George Dyer
- 1971
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Beyler Foundation, Riehen, near Basel
- One of the three Black Triptychs (with Triptych–August 1972 and Triptych, May–June 1973) painted by Bacon following the death of his lover, George Dyer.
|
- Triptych – August 1972
- 1972
- Oil on canvas
- 198.1 x 147.3 cm
- Tate Modern, London
- One of the three Black Triptych's (with In Memory of George Dyer and Triptych, May–June 1973), painted by Bacon following the death of his lover, George Dyer.
|
- Three Studies of Figures on Beds
- 1972
- Oil and tempere on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection
- The figures are inspired by Eadweard Muybridge's photographs of wrestlers
|
- Three Portraits: Posthumous Portrait of George Dyer, Self-portrait, and Portrait of Lucian Freud
- 1973
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Beyler Foundation, Riehen, near Basel
|
- Triptych, May–June 1973
- 1973
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection of Esther Grether, Switzerland
- One of the three "Black triptychs" (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, on 24 October 1971, the triptych is a portrait of the moments before Dyer's death from an overdose of pills in their hotel room.[6]
- Triptych, May–June 1973 was purchased at auction in 1989 by Swiss businesswoman Esther Grether for $6.3 million ($NaN as of 2024), then a record for a Bacon painting.[7] [8] [9] Grether is believed to own three other Bacon triptychs from the 1970s.
|
- Triptych March 1974
- 1974
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection, Madrid
|
- Triptych 1974–1977
- 1976
- Oil and pastel on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection of Joe Lewis
- Features Bacon's lover George Dyer "writhing and struggling on a near-deserted beach watched by two disconcerting figures".[10] Sold in February 2008 to currency trader and businessman Joe Lewis for £26.3 million (£NaN as of 2024), then a record for postwar artwork bought in Europe.[7][8]
|
- Triptych 1976
- 1976
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection of Roman Abramovich
- Sold in May 2008 for $86.3 million ($NaN as of 2024), to Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, holds the record for the highest price paid for a post-war work of art at auction.[7][8]
|
- Triptych – Studies of the Human Body (1979)
- 1979
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection
- Central panel marks final appearance of figures inspired by wrestlers from the photographs of Muybridge. Sold by Stanley J. Seeger for $8.6m in 2001 ($NaN as of 2024), then a record price for a Bacon painting.[11][8]
|
- Triptych inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus
- 1981
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 58 in)
- Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo
|
- Triptych 1983
- 1983
- Oil and pastel on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection of Juan Abelló, Madrid.[12]
|
- Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards
- 1984
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection
- Features Bacon's companion and sole heir, John Edwards. Sold by Pierre Chen at Christie's in 2014 for $80.8 million.[13][14]
|
- Study for a Self-Portrait—Triptych, 1985–86
- 1986
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Marlborough International Fine Art
|
- Triptych 86-87
- 1987
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection
|
- Triptych 1987
- 1987
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Private collection, The Estate of Francis Bacon
|
- Second Version of Triptych 1944
- 1988
- Oil on canvas
- 198 x 147.5cm (78 x 57 in)
- Tate Britain, London
- The second version of Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1944). Painted by Bacon after the 1944 triptych was deemed too fragile to travel to New York for an exhibition.
|
- Triptych 1991
- 1991
- Oil on linen
- 198.1 x 147.6cm (78 x 57 in)
- Museum of Modern Art, New York City
- Bacon's last triptych, features formula one driver Ayrton Senna, José Capelo,[15] as well as a self-portrait of Bacon.
|