Inside the mind of terror: Francis Bacon

 

  Ambiguously shaped creatures looming inside pitch black darkness. Their limbs stretched across the depths of the canvas seemingly without consent. Popes, jailed inside glass boxes, howling into nothingness with their mouths forced open. Their vocal yearning for help and oxygen falling on deaf ears. Heads of portraits, decaying before the spectator‘s very eyes while spectacular carcasses of meat hang in the background, forgotten within the butcher‘s daily routine. These are just a few elements that Francis Bacon, the English/Irish born painter and associate of the fine arts, is famously known for.

  Horrific imagery which, more often than not, blurred the line between the traditional understanding of violence and erotica, was how the ever eccentric Bacon reconciled his struggle to fit inside the canvas of Expressionism of that era. An obsession lead by narrative of broken tradition, reality and realness bent by seamlessly irrational brushstrokes. Although the element of horror that permeated through his works, the painter simply called “Brutality of Fact“. Defending himself, with the kind of dry British wit, one would expect of him: “I've always hoped to put over things as directly and rawly as I possibly can: and perhaps, if a thing comes across directly, people feel that that is horrific.

  Despite the aforementioned horror, the genius behind it was rather spry and cheerful throughout his day to day activities. Often spotted like a tiny spark, darting from one guest group to another with a glass of champagne in his palm, and a somewhat broken French accent at his side.

  Born in 1908 England, Francis was tossed and turned between two very different lifestyles. Subjected to both the outdoor world of his father’s horse training farm in Ireland and the urban development of England as he followed his father who had received a job offer as a representative at the War Office. It is quite clear that certain realities of Bacon’s upbringing had a massive influence on art later in life. 

  Physical punishment, shyness and, most importantly, homosexual urges that the boy often indulged in, soured his relationship with his father and cost Francis a spot in the house. This event lead him on the path of Europe’s most prominent cities. London, Berlin and Paris were, at the time, absolutely frothing with culture and served as an indirect, and often quite scandalous nanny to the boy who had never experienced the developing world of humanities. It was, however, one key moment that, unknowingly at the time, changed the course of his entire life. It happened inside one of Rosenberg’s art galleries in Paris. “While there I saw at Rosenberg's an exhibition of Picasso, and at that moment I thought, well I will try and paint too.”

  In an interview with journalist and art critic David Sylvester,the sole reason behind written and recorded testimonies of Francis existing, the painter discussed his distaste for narrative within canvas. This, however, did not discourage curious art enthusiasts from their search for connections and associations within Bacon‘s dread. It is painfully clear what a sensitive soul the man was, very often making his friends, colleagues and lovers the subject of his portraits and figures making poking and prodding a difficult endeavour to bear. Especially so since Bacon was rarely interested in depicting a realistic representation of one‘s face. It was the mouth and the anatomy surrounding it that really captivated the young painter. The “glitter“ as he called it, soon spread all over the face, not just the mouth.

  During his first visit to Paris, Francis, inside an old bookstore, found a beautifully hand coloured medical book containing images of various diseases of the mouth. The vivid imagery and unnatural colours completely enamoured Bacon and shaped his portraits from there.

  A common element that Francis took advantage of quite well was something he called “injury“. This disfigurement that Francis, more often than not, achieved in the comfort of his own privacy, at times disturbed his subjects and got him into altercations. Injury was Francis‘ trademark and very often elevated the portrait to its surreal quality. Mangled contours, forms and bizarre colours. Sylvester who did not shy away from uncomfortable questions, called it a “caress“ and an “assault“ both at the same time. For Bacon, who endured heavy physical punishment due to his sexual encounters with men as a teenager, the two methods of showing attention most likely blended into one another interchangeably. Violence, seemingly, represented beauty.

"I always think of myself not so much as a painter but as a medium for accident and chance."

  Chance was a big factor in driving Bacon‘s genius forward as well. He loved to gamble and rarely avoided disclosing his intimate relationship with luck. Famously, Francis would buy champagne and caviar for everyone he knew as soon as he received his pay for paintings. “Well, that's because of my greed. I'm greedy for life;and I'm greedy as an artist.” he once said in one of his interviews with Sylvester. “I'm greedy for what I hope chance can give me far beyond anything that I can calculate logically. And it's partly my greed that has made me what's called live by chance - greed for food, for drink, for being with the people one likes, for the excitement of things happening". He was the painter whose rationale often clashed with intuitive strokes of the brush, the painter who threw a handful of paint on the canvas to help further the image if he ever got stuck. “Half my painting activity is disrupting what I can do with ease.”

  Bacon was cunningly keen at exposing one’s innermost desires and fears. He was interested in the imperfections and the human hypocrisy. He asked: “And this is the obsession: how like can I make this thing in the most irrational way?” People yearn for violence, delve into the deepest depths of their terror and secretly even desire to indulge in destruction themselves yet they will die saying such feeling is nonexistent. This illogical contrast is the bulk of Bacon’s career. And perhaps, the horror that lurks behind Bacon’s terror is the dreadful fear and unwillingness to admit our own evil? It’s certainly an interesting discussion.