Francis Bacon.
Francis Bacon has always been one of my favourite artists. I have always been attracted to his abstract artwork. His painting technique is unique, the blurring and smudging of areas contrast distinctly with the more detailed areas of his work. Not only is Francis Bacon’s style of artwork unique, but he also has a fascinating subject matter. Over his career, he painted many self-portraits and interesting sculptural-like figures. I was most interested, in particular, the portraits of the pope, which were the most influential in my own work.
Above I have included some inspirational images of Francis Bacon’s different artworks of the Pope, his most famous piece of the Pope is; Pope Innocent X, which appears in several of his paintings, including Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953). I was most inspired by the textured dark lines that drag vertically, creating a very dramatic effect around the figures head.
In addition to his studies with the pope, Francis Bacon I was also influenced and inspired by his triptychs. I had never seen an artist present their work in such a way before, which I found interesting. The way arrangement of the art pieces tells a story through movement with each picture slightly different to communicate a different moment. Francis Bacon also created diptychs, 2 pieces of work arranged and presented as one.
MY OWN WORK
Taking the knowledge and research of Francis Bacon for my Advance Higher portfolio, I used the techniques I had picked up from Francis Bacon to create portraits of my Brother and Father. For the duo piece, I used the blending seen in Bacon’s work, to blend the two faces. Representing the son and father bond. Below the middle piece of work, of my brother by himself, is another acrylic piece, this time a more abstract piece, where I have used horizontal lines to smudge the figure’s face across the page. To the left a study of my brother adopts in the distortion seen in Francis Bacon’s work, his face distorted and obscured in ink.
