Study of a Baboon 1953

Here in MoMA is Francis Bacon's painting of a Baboon—the size of a human, made with dark, expressive strokes. The color palette is muted—ochre, black, and a ghostly blue. I imagine Bacon, in his studio, wrestling with the canvas—attacking and revising, adding and subtracting until this creature emerges from the chaos of the paint. You know, it’s hard being an artist. I sympathize with Bacon, because I know what he's trying to do. How do you capture the essence of a baboon—its primal nature, its wildness? Check out how he uses thin paint to create a sense of transparency, allowing the figure to dissolve into the background. Look at the sweeping lines of the ochre ground—they’re so visceral, almost violent. It communicates feeling, intention. It could be Soutine, or Goya. Ultimately, painting is an embodied expression of emotion and lived experience, right? We, as artists, embrace ambiguity, welcoming multiple interpretations. And that baboon—it embodies the same thing.