Francis Bacon: From Picasso to Velázquez
September 30, 2016 – January 8, 2017
THEMES: STUDY OF A BULL
Painting: Plastic and Visual Expression
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Introduction
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Questions
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Activities
Francis Bacon
Study of a Bull, 1991
Oil, aerosol paint, and dust on canvas
198 x 147.5 cm
Private collection
“We die famous instead of being the unknown soldier. And we always talk rubbish in the small
world of art. Perhaps what we have in common [with Picasso] is the fact that we like life above
all. But Picasso invented everything. After him, we can no longer paint without thinking of
him.” Francis Bacon, 1992 [1]
Francis Bacon (b. 1909, Dublin; d. 1992, Madrid) spent the first 20 years of his life moving
between England, Ireland, Paris, and Berlin [2]. In Paris, the artist visited an exhibition of Pablo
Picasso (Málaga, 1881–Mougins, 1973) in 1927 which so captivated him that he decided to
become a self-taught painter. Picasso’s impact on Bacon as both a person and an artist was so
great that throughout Bacon’s entire career, which runs virtually parallel to that of Picasso, his
painting output oftentimes reflects the same themes and styles as the Spanish artist. In
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addition to being a passionate fan of Picasso’s art, Bacon was also fascinated by other classical
Spanish masters, including Zurbarán, El Greco, Goya, and Velázquez, whose works he had
several chances to see in person at the Prado. He particularly became more familiar with
Velázquez’s oeuvre at a retrospective of the artist held at the Prado in 1990.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Bacon travelled a great deal and spent time in places like Monaco,
southern France, Spain, and Africa [3]. This is when his obsession with the world of bullfighting
started, probably triggered by his trips to southern France and Spain, countries where he had
the chance to attend bullfights in person [4].
His experience at these bullfights, combined with his admiration of Picasso’s work and Lorca’s
literature—particularly his pieces on bullfighting—must have spurred Bacon to paint these
themes repeatedly [5]. Bacon’s work was also heavily influenced by the writings of his close
friend, the French author Michel Leiris (Paris, 1901–Saint-Hilaire, 1990) [6]. Miroir de la
tauromachie (1938) is the first book that Leiris sent Bacon on the topic of bullfighting, and it
went on to inspire Bacon’s first paintings on this subject in the late 1960s: Study for a Bullfight
No. 1 (1969) and Second Version of Study for a Bullfight two years later (1971) [7]. Later, Bacon
continued to return to the topic of bullfighting, even down to his last creation, Study of a Bull
(1991), painted one year before his death.
In the works he painted during the latter years of his career, bulls morphed into the image of
the beast, the brute strength that he realized he no longer had [8]. Bacon felt extremely weak
when painting his last work because he was suffering from pneumonia, which was exacerbated
by the asthma he had suffered from since childhood. In Study of a Bull, the image of the animal
is ambiguous. The bull seems to be emerging from a black rectangle towards the light, while at
the same time disappearing into the adjacent white shape. As is customary in bullfights, the
animal emerges from the darkness (bull pen) into the light of the arena, where the bullfighter
who will kill him is awaiting in his fancy traje de luces.
In Bacon’s painting, the bull looks weak, and it is not clear whether he is trying to escape from
the bullring or enter it. In this last work, Bacon was likely trying to express that he was dying
and was aware of it [9]. In 1992, against the advice of his friends and doctors, Bacon travelled
to Madrid for vacation, and he died there on April 28.
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introduction
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Questions
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Activities
Look carefully at this painting. What do you see? How would you describe it? Make a list of the
words that occur to you as you look at it. Study of a Bull was the painter’s last work. How does
your perception of this scene change now that you know that? What words would you add to
the list now that you know that this was Bacon’s last painting? Compare your list with a
classmate’s. What words did both of you write? What terms are different? Discuss your choice
of words with your partner.
Most of the canvas, which is more than two meters tall, is left blank; that is, the artist
deliberately left the canvas unpainted. Why do you think Bacon left this huge empty space in
the work? Bacon also used very few colors in this painting. Why do you think the artist chose
only black, white and off-white to paint Study of a Bull? How would your perception of it
change if he had used all the colors in the rainbow?
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Under the figure of the bull on the canvas itself, Bacon added real dust taken from the dust
that had gathered in his chaotic studio in London. Can you see where he put it? Why do you
think an artist would use this kind of material? How do you think it is related to the subject or
to the time in his life when he painted it? Do you think Bacon was using this dust to try to
represent anything specific?
Some historians think that Bacon was close to death when he painted this work [10]. If that is
true, why do you think he chose this subject for his last work?
If you could change the title of this painting to make it more poetic or metaphorical, what title
would you give it? Why?
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introduction
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Questions
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Activities
If you were an animal, what would you be?
In the works that Bacon produced in the latter years of his career, the bull became a symbol he
used to represent himself. In Study of a Bull, it is the image of the beast that no longer has the
strength to fight for his life.
First of all, think about what animal you would choose to represent yourself. Write a
paragraph explaining your choice. To do so, think about the qualities that we human beings
associate with certain animals. For example, we say that bulls are noble and brave, dogs are
faithful, foxes are clever, etc.
Then think about a special moment in your life recently. Illustrate it using the image of the
animal you have chosen as the main figure. Only use two or three colors for your drawing. You
can make several attempts before getting a picture that you think represents you the best.
The artist and his studio
In 1961, Francis Bacon began to paint in a studio in southwest London. Even though he
occasionally worked elsewhere, this space was the heart of his artistic activity until he died in
1992. In this tiny studio, which only measured 4 x 6 meters, the artist accumulated thousands
of printed items, such as clippings from magazines; books on bullfights; publications on
gardening, boxing, art, and medicine; photos of all kinds; and reproductions of his paintings
[11]. Bacon added dust from the floor of this messy space in his last work, Study of a Bull,
which he painted in 1991. Look at a photograph of his studio:
http://blog.francis-bacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/1963.14smaller.jpg
How does it make you feel? Would you have liked to visit it? Would you want to work in a
place like that?
First, gather information on the studios or workshops of other famous artists to get inspiration
[12]. Then think about what your studio would be like if you had the chance to put one in your
room or somewhere else in your home. Take a picture of this ideal place and print it on DINA4-sized paper. Peruse magazines, cut out images of objects that you’d like to put in your
studio and paste them onto your printed photograph. What kind of artistic activity would you
do there?
You can also do this activity on the website at https://padlet.com or download the app on a
telephone or tablet. Padlet is a virtual wall that lets you store, save, and share all kinds of
contents, including images, videos, documents, and text. It can be accessed via any device and
either be used privately or shared with a group. We encourage you to create your own studio
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using this tool.
Finally, share your artist’s studio with the rest of the class.
Write a letter to a collector
The painting Study of a Bull was discovered by the art historian Martin Harrison as he was
working on Francis Bacon’s catalogue raisonné. The painting had not been found before then
since it was part of a private art collection in London. After many years of searching, Harrison
found it just two kilometers from where Bacon lived. You can read more about this discovery
at: http://www.elmundo.es/cultura/2016/02/23/56cca5ad22601d327f8b46bb.html.
Today you can see it at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao because the curators of the Bacon
exhibition managed to convince its owners to let the museum display it. Imagine that you were
the curator of a show on Francis Bacon, and write a letter to the collector who owns the
painting to ask them to lend it to you for a show. What would you say to convince them?
Where would you display it? Why would it be important to show it in your exhibition? What
would the exhibition be about?
VOCABULARIO
Bullfighting: This is a traditional sport in Spain, Portugal, some areas in southern France, and
some countries in Latin America which revolves around the clash between man and animal.
Bullfighting has served as the source of inspiration for countless literary and artistic works.
Canvas: A fabric usually made of linen, cotton, or hemp, on which paint is applied.
Links:
Article on the discovery of Francis Bacon’s last painting (in English)
BBC website with videos of Francis Bacon (in English)
Official website of Francis Bacon’s oeuvre
Francis Bacon exhibition in the Museo del Prado
Article on the discovery of Francis Bacon’s last painting (in English)
Article on the discovery of Francis Bacon’s last painting (in Spanish)
[1] Francis Bacon: the last interview http://www.independent.co.uk/artsentertainment/art/features/francis-bacon-the-last-interview-8368727.html
[2] http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/francis-bacon-682
[3] https://www.museodelprado.es/actualidad/exposicion/francis-bacon/7349132f-7cf4-4177bedd-eda4662302f9
[4] https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/francis-bacon-the-complete-prints/study-for-a-bullfightno-1-8/2530
[5] https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/francis-bacon-the-complete-prints/study-for-a-bullfightno-1-8/2530
[6] Leiris wrote several books that touched on the topic of bulls: Espejo de los Toros (1938 and
1990) La edad del hombre (1939) and La carrera de Toros (1991), among others.
[7] For more information on the relationship between Bacon, Leiris and bullfighting, see:
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.29.html/2007/contemporary-artevening-n08363 (in English)
[8] Audio guide. Francis Bacon. From Picasso to Velázquez.
[9] https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/feb/23/francis-bacon-study-of-a-bull1991-final-painting
[10] https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/feb/23/francis-bacon-study-of-a-bull1991-final-painting
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[11] For more information on the painter’s studio, you can read http://francisbacon.com/artworks/studio (in English)
[12] A large collection of photographs of artists’ studios can be found on the following website:
http://www.boredpanda.com/famous-artists-and-their-muses-in-their-studios/
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