Early works

Study for a Head, 1955

Oil on canvas, 101.7 x 76.5cm.
©The Estate of Francis Bacon, Image reproduced for educational purposes only.

Bacon’s early original works are markedly bleaker than his mid-career paintings, capturing a raw and unsettling view into his mind. These early pieces reveal a psychological intensity that feels almost claustrophobic, stripped of the later works’ compositional confidence.

His fixation on heads and distorted portraits dominates this period, suggesting a deep preoccupation with the human psyche and the fragility of identity. These twisted, half-formed figures aren’t just studies in anatomy but reflections of inner turmoil, an early exploration of one of Bacon’s most recurring themes: the distortion of the self.

*Images are for educational purposes only.
- Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, 1944
  ©The Estate of Francis Bacon, image repoduced for educational purposes
Mid-Career
Explore Bacons orginals from 1960-1980

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Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, 1944