List of large triptychs by Francis Bacon

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 2016, 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 Agoniste" 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 2016), 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 2016), 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 2016), 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 2016), 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

• Triptychs of Francis Bacon

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.
4. "Bacon painting fetches record price". BBC News. 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
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. 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. UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2016), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.
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.
11. "The collections of Stanley J Seeger". The Financial Times. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
12. "Triptych, 1983, exhibited in Dallas' Meadow Museum's 50th Anniversary Celebrations". Francis Bacon.com. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
13. "Francis Bacon - Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards". Christie's. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
14. Scott Rayburn (4 April 2014). "Francis Bacon's Moment". New York Times. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
15. http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Arts/article1370705.ece

Bibliography

• Baldassari, Anne. Bacon and Picasso. Flammarion, 2005. ISBN 978-2-08-030486-5
• Davies, Hugh; Yard, Sally. Francis Bacon. New York: Cross River Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0-89659-447-0
• Dawson, Barbara; Sylvester, David. Francis Bacon in Dublin. London: Thames & Hundson, 2002. ISBN 978-0-500-28254-0
• Farr, Dennis; Peppiatt, Michael; Yard, Sally. Francis Bacon: A Retrospective. Harry N Abrams, 1999. ISBN 978-0-8109-2925-8
• Russell, John. Francis Bacon (World of Art). Norton, 1971. ISBN 978-0-500-20169-5
• Sylvester, David. Looking back at Francis Bacon. London: Thames and Hudson, 2000. ISBN 978-0-500-01994-8