Three Studies of Isabel Rawsthorne 1967
| Three Studies of Isabel Rawsthorne |
|---|
| Francis Bacon , 1967 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 119.5 × 152.5 cm |
|
New National Gallery , Berlin
Link to the picture |
Three Studies of Isabel Rawsthorne from 1967 is a painting by Francis Bacon . It was painted with oil on canvas and has the dimensions 119.5 × 152.5 cm. The work has been in the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin since 1968 .
Image description
In the painting by Isabel Rawsthorne, three portraits are combined in a spatial situation. In a sense, it is an assembled triptych . Rawsthorne is shown in three different positions. On the right is a standing Rawsthorne, illuminated by bright light falling from above. A painted portrait of her appears to the left , depicting a picture attached to the wall with a nail, and in the center she can be seen behind a door surrounded by shimmering violet light. There she bears a stronger resemblance to the portrait than Isabel Rawsthorne, shown on the far right.
In the middle picture of Rawsthorne in the crack in the door he lets her night side emerge as if she had just come home from a night of partying. Here she has drawn her eyebrows and put on earrings. She wears a black dress that hardly stands out against the dark background. The figure on the right shows her day side, without make-up and in casual clothes. Bacon created the portrait on the left in the style of his pictures from the 1950s. He painted strips that blur the ground and the figures with each other and at the same time connect them.
The picture is traversed by three vertical dividing lines like a triptych: wall, door and door gap. However, there is also a connection between the people, which is characterized by gestures and a zigzag line. It extends from the upper left edge over the middle portrait to the door lock and Rawsthorne's right hand, which is stretched out to the keyhole, and further over her left arm protruding from the picture. This is how the three isolated people are connected to one another.
The Isabel Rawsthorne model
Isabel Rawsthorne (1912–1992) was a British painter and designer. Occasionally she also worked as a model for artists. She was familiar with many followers of the bohemian art scene. Her friends included Alberto Giacometti , Jacob Epstein and Francis Bacon. Bacon met Isabel Rawsthorne in 1947, and both exhibited at Erica Brausen 's Hanover Gallery in London . At the time, Rawsthorne was married to the composer Constant Lambert after her marriage to Sefton Delmer . She later married Alan Rawsthorne . She was a muse for many other artists as well. Isabel Rawsthorne was one of Bacon's favorite models in the 1960s.
literature
- Margarita Cappock: Francis Bacon. Traces in the artist's studio. Knesebeck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-896-60317-5 .
- Valentina Castellani: Isabel and Other Intimate Strangers. Portraits by Alberto Giacometti and Francis Bacon. Gagosian Gallery, New York 2008, ISBN 978-1-932-59878-0 .
- Christoph Heinrich: Francis Bacon - The Portraits. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern-Ruit 2005, ISBN 3-775-71727-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christoph Heinrich: Francis Bacon - The portraits . (Catalog on the occasion of the Francis Bacon exhibition . The Portraits , Hamburger Kunsthalle , October 14, 2005 to January 15, 2006). Ostfildern-Ruit, 2005, p. 96.
- ↑ Margarita Cappock: Francis Bacon. Traces in the artist's studio. Munich 2005, p. 42.