Studies of George Dyer and Isabel Rawsthorne 1970

These are Francis Bacon’s oil paintings of George Dyer and Isabel Rawsthorne, and it’s like he’s wrestling with their faces. The pastel pink background seems to trap these figures. I can only imagine what it must have been like to be Bacon. He was no doubt thinking about Velasquez, Picasso, and maybe even Soutine while also thinking about his friends. The thick paint application and the way Bacon smears and distorts the features of the face – these choices can feel like a kind of violence, but also a deep empathy. Just look at the bold strokes that define the contours of their faces! These lines are not just descriptive; they are expressive, conveying the weight of experience and the fragility of the human form. It’s like he’s trying to find out how much a painting can do. Painters have always been in conversation, responding to the world and to each other. Every brushstroke is a question, a possibility, and a statement.