Henrietta Moraes 1966

This is Francis Bacon’s portrait of Henrietta Moraes, painted with oils on a large canvas. Bacon used oil paint in a very physical way, smearing and manipulating the medium to create its highly expressive surfaces. Look at how the paint seems to melt and distort the figure, as if she is trapped in a state of constant transformation. The visceral quality of the paint contributes to the sense of unease and alienation that is so central to Bacon’s work. He also used techniques like wiping paint away with rags and brushes to blur the image, and to create a sense of movement and instability. Bacon’s techniques, combined with the subject matter, challenge traditional distinctions between the fine arts and the darker realities of human existence. By exploring the materiality of paint and the processes of its application, Bacon prompts us to consider the deeper psychological and emotional dimensions of the human condition.