List of large triptychs by Francis Bacon

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File:Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion.jpg
Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, C 1944. 94 cm x 74 cm (ea), Tate Britain, London. This work was the first painting Bacon was happy with and was an instant critical success. The themes it explores reoccur and are re-examined in many of his later panels and triptychs.

The Irish-born British artist Francis Bacon (1909–1992) painted 28 known large triptychs between 1944 and 1985–86.[1] 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".

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.

List of large triptychs

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.

See also

References

  1. Sylvester, 107
  2. Sylvester, 100
  3. Brown, Mark. "Bacon triptych emerges from Tehran storeroom". The Guardian, 18 June 2004. Retrieved on 20 June 2010.
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  5. Brown, Mark. "Bacon, Francis Triptych 1970". National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved on 20 June 2010.
  6. Tóibín, Colm. "Such a Grip and Twist". The Dublin Review, 2000.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Thornton, Sarah. "Francis Bacon claims his place at the top of the market". The Art Newspaper, 29 August 2008. Retrieved on 10 June 2010.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "inflation-UK" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "inflation-UK" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "inflation-UK" defined multiple times with different content
  9. "Post-War Works Shine at Christie's" Artnet News, 16 November 2000. Retrieved on 7 May 2007.
  10. Brown, Mark. "What recession? Bacon sells for £26.3m". The Guardian, 8 February 2008. Retrieved on 20 June 2010.
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  15. http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Arts/article1370705.ece

Bibliography