Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer (on light ground) 1964

Francis Bacon made these three studies for a portrait, featuring George Dyer, with oil paint. Bacon’s painting process is so visible here, you can see how he pushes and pulls the paint, smearing and smudging until a kind of likeness emerges. I love how he captures the essence of a person not through perfect representation, but through these raw, visceral marks. Take a look at the way the red and brown tones clash and blend, creating this sense of unease, maybe even violence. The thick impasto in certain areas, especially around the face, gives the painting such a tactile quality. It's like Bacon is wrestling with the medium, trying to pin down something elusive, something beyond the surface. Maybe he took some tips from Richter. In any case, the distortions and fragmentations aren’t about ugliness, but about getting closer to some kind of difficult truth. For me, this piece captures the beauty, and the brutality, of being human.