Studies From the Human Body: A Triptych 1979

Francis Bacon made this triptych, Studies From the Human Body, using oil paint to really get under your skin. Look at the way he uses that bright orange background, like a stage, but a really unnerving one. Bacon’s touch is visceral. The paint seems thrown, smeared, and twisted, almost like the figures themselves are struggling against the surface. In the central panel, notice how the bodies are blurred, almost dissolving into each other. It's like he's trying to capture the raw energy of human existence, the messy, uncomfortable parts that we usually try to hide. That circular shape behind them, like a spotlight or a portal, throws the figures into stark relief. Bacon, like Goya before him, isn’t afraid to show us the ugly stuff. It’s not about beauty, it’s about truth, even if that truth is hard to swallow. The work invites us to confront our own vulnerabilities and anxieties.