Figure 1961

Francis Bacon made this “Figure” in an unknown year using a monochromatic palette. Bacon throws us right into the muck of it all, doesn’t he? The figure is almost like a drawing, built up with layers of washes, creating depth and volume, then wiped away and added to. There’s a constant back-and-forth, a push and pull, a give and take of the medium. It reminds me that artmaking is a process, not a fixed thing, but a living, breathing evolution. I’m drawn to the way the figure seems to emerge from the ground, how the paint is scrubbed and blurred, so the form pulses and threatens to disappear altogether. The figure itself is all distortion and unease, but the tonal palette and marks almost give the piece a sculptural quality. It feels both ancient and utterly contemporary. Like Giacometti, Bacon shows us the fragility and the resilience of the human form, even in the face of all the world's suffering.