STUDY FOR A BULLFIGHT, TRIPTYCH 1987, 1989

  • Study for Bullfight, 1989 by Francis Bacon

    Study for Bullfight, 1989

    Lithograph, edition of 180, H 90 X W 63cm 

    ©The Estate of Francis Bacon

    Study for a Bullfight, Triptych 1987, 1989, is one of Francis Bacon’s more unsettling late works, revisiting the theme of the bullfight but stripping it of its spectacle. Unlike his earlier depictions, this version omits the bull entirely. Instead, Bacon presents disfigured human legs punctured and bruised, the flesh marked by gashes and covered in plasters. The result is intimate and violent, confronting the human body's fragility and vulnerability. 
     
    The triptych’s flesh tones against the cool-toned backdrop evoke the atmosphere of the arena, yet the focus has turned inward. By removing the bull, Bacon transforms the scene into a metaphor for endurance and decay, exposing the human body as both victim and witness. The repetition of the image across three panels intensifies the unease, suggesting cycles of suffering and recovery.
     
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  • We only have our nervous system to paint.

    - Francis Bacon 

    Francis Bacon’s fascination with bullfighting stretched across decades and became one of the most charged symbols in his art. He was first introduced to the spectacle during his travels through Spain and the south of France in the 1960s, where the ritualistic blend of grace and brutality left a lasting impression. To Bacon, the corrida was not simply sport, it was theatre at its most primal, life and death distilled into movement, gesture, and risk.
    What drew him in was the paradox. The matador’s poise contrasted violently with the animal’s raw power, mirroring the same collision between control and chaos that defined Bacon’s own work. He collected books, photographs, and clippings of bullfights, annotating them obsessively in his studio.