TRIPTYCH (RIGHT), 1983

  • Triptych 1983, right panel, francis bacon.

    Triptych 1983, (right panel), 1983

    Lithograph, edition size 180, H 67 x 50cm 

    ©The Estate of Francis Bacon 

    Triptych (Right), 1983, completes Francis Bacon’s powerful three-part composition. The work features a solitary, distorted figure set against his signature orange background, creating a sense of confinement and exposure. The clarity of the composition contrasts with the ambiguity of the figure.
     

    This right panel reflects Bacon’s refined control of colour and space during the 1980s, a time when his work became quieter and more introspective. The intense orange hue heightens the psychological tension, isolating the figure within a flat, radiant field. Serving as the closing movement of the triptych, the panel captures the lingering atmosphere of reflection and solitude that defines Bacon’s late career.

     
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  • We only have our nervous system to paint.

    - Francis Bacon

    Francis Bacon’s use of the triptych format became one of the defining features of his career, allowing him to structure complex emotional and psychological ideas across three interrelated panels. While the format traditionally carried religious associations, Bacon reimagined it as a vehicle for exploring human experience, using repetition, variation, and sequence to express the tension between movement and stillness, life and death.