Figure in a Framework c. 1957 - 1961

Curator: Francis Bacon's "Figure in a Framework" presents a spectral form trapped within geometric confines. It's quite small, just 340 by 270 millimeters. My first impression is one of intense anxiety. Editor: The thinness of the paint application, the visible paper texture… it speaks to the speed of its creation, maybe even a sense of urgency or anxiety from Bacon himself, transferred through the gesture. Curator: The framework evokes cages, stages, even altars. It’s as if the figure is undergoing some kind of ritual, a constant state of self-definition or perhaps self-destruction, as we often see in Bacon's work. Editor: And the choice of paper, not canvas…it democratizes the image. It bypasses notions of high art to connect directly with the immediacy of mark-making and the human hand. Curator: The figure’s ambiguous form lends it an everyman quality, or perhaps an any-creature quality. The universality of suffering… Editor: Agreed. The raw materials and the artist's process emphasize the physical act of creation. A glimpse into Bacon’s state of mind, indeed.