Dimensions: support: 340 x 270 mm
Copyright: © Estate of Francis Bacon. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2014 | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Curator: Francis Bacon's "Fallen Figure" in the Tate collection—it strikes me as both vulnerable and fierce. What's your initial impression? Editor: Immediately, I notice the composition, its sparseness. The blue lines create a stark, almost architectural framework around the figure. Curator: Exactly. It's as if he's trapped in a psychological space—the red smear at the bottom, a burst of raw emotion against that cool detachment. Reminds me of raw nerves. Editor: I see what you mean. The line itself is so telling, hesitant yet definite, sketching out form while simultaneously suggesting its disintegration. Curator: It’s a glimpse into the very moment of collapse, isn't it? Painful and intimate. Editor: Perhaps. It also hints at the formal elegance Bacon often wrestled with, even in these rawer sketches. Curator: Yes. It's a piece that lingers, revealing more with each look. A beautiful tension. Editor: Indeed, a study of form and feeling intertwined.
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These pages occurred towards the middle of the dismembered sketchbook partially reconstituted in this display. Three sheets have been included from private collections to which they were dispersed prior to the Tate Gallery's acquisition of the remainder. Bacon's known interest in boxing seems to be reflected in several drawings, echoing those earlier in the sketchbook. The figures are speedily sketched. By making the trappings ambiguous - lines may be ropes or outlines of furniture - a sense of drama enlivens Bacon's habitual reclining figures. This process also resulted in the hovering pose of 'Sketch [Figure Crawling]', which is based on the upper figure from Muybridge's famous photograph of a pair of wrestlers. Gallery label, March 2023
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