PORTRAIT OF A DWARF, 1975

  • Portrait of a Dwarf, 1975, Francis Bacon

    Portrait of a Dwarf, 1975

    Oil on canvas, 159 x 58.4cm 

    ©The Estate of Francis Bacon, Image reproduced for educational purposes 

    Portrait of a Dwarf (1975) is one of Francis Bacon’s lesser-known but deeply affecting works, capturing his enduring fascination with the human form and its infinite variations. The figure is presented alone, suspended within one of Bacon’s familiar enclosed settings, the background stripped of detail to heighten the viewer’s focus on the subject. The painting balances tension and compassion, showing the sitter as both object of observation and symbol of human vulnerability. 
     
    Rendered in the deep blues, greys and fleshy tones, the work oozes with unsettling intensity. Bacon’s vigorous brushwork and smudged contours blur the boundary between flesh and space, turning the figure into an expression of both strength and fragility. While the work retains the distortion and isolation characteristic of his art, it also reflects a subtler emotional tone. In Portrait of a Dwarf, Bacon transforms a single body into a universal image of human presence, confronting the viewer with the dignity and unease of simply being seen.

  • Painting is the pattern of one’s own nervous system being projected on canvas.

    - Francis Bacon

    Francis Bacon’s obsession with painting other people stemmed from his fascination with what lay beneath the surface of human appearance. He wasn’t interested in likeness or flattery; what drew him was the raw psychological truth he believed could be revealed through distortion. Bacon often said he wanted to capture “the vulnerability of the human situation,” and this pursuit defined his portraits.
    Using rapid brushstrokes, blurred outlines and unsettling colour, Bacon sought to depict the shifting states of mind that photographs or traditional portraits could never show. To him, painting another person was not about recording who they were, but about exposing what it felt like to exist at all.