HISTORY OF ART
LEONARDO DA VINCI’s SCHOOL
SAINT THIBAULT DES VIGNES in SEINE et MARNE
2016
FRANCIS BACON
and
PORTRAIT OF ISABEL RAWSTHORNE
STANDING IN A STREET IN SOHO
A biography and study
Véronique ROUSSEL
1
PORTRAIT OF ISABEL RAWSTHORNE STANDING IN A STREET IN
SOHO, FRANCIS BACON, 1967
2
IDENTIFICATION OF THE DOCUMENT
PORTRAIT OF ISABEL RAWSTHORNE STANDING IN A
STREET IN SOHO
was painted in 1967 by the British painter Francis Bacon. He was born in
Dublin in 1909, lived eighty-two years and died in Madrid, in 1992.
He is identified round the world as the greatest British painter of the
twentieth century. His art, which he himself labelled “figurative realism”,
is mainly focused on the human condition during the twentieth century.
This pictorial work is an oil of canvas. It is I.98 metre high by 1.475 metre
wide. Francis Bacon used to paint full-length and large-sized pictorial
works which were then glazed (vitrés) for most of them because he
wanted the spectator to participate in his paintings. This one is just as
impressive as the portrayed woman who is its focus. We cannot explore
the painting without knowing who this woman was, because her name is
in the title of the painting, and also without referring to the painter’s life
because both his life and work tightly interrelate (sont en étroite
correlation).(Reread the part dedicated to (consacrée à) his biography carefully.).
It is exhibited in the Neue Nationalegalerie in Berlin, Germany.
The central theme of this artwork is that of life and death in a street
scene that looks quite ordinary at first sight (à première vue) but reveals
unexpectedly strange because the painter, through a mirror effect,
associates his vision of Isabel Rawsthorne and of the street where she is
standing, with a mysterious bullfight.(corrida)
This painting is the first of a series (une série) Francis Bacon painted
about bullfighting. Just like his friends, Pablo Picasso and Michel Leiris,
he was fascinated by bullfighting which, he said, “was a marvellous aperitive
before sex” and “like death in the sunlight.” He had various opportunities to
observe bullfights in the South of France and in Spain, he admired
Picasso’s paintings about bullfighting and he also owned lots of books
and postcards about it in his studio in London. He was particularly
3
attracted by the dangerous and savage body-to-body fight between man
and animal as well as by their flesh as the palpable vibrating essence of
instinctive life. (See his commentaries about flesh and meat in the part dedicated
to his biography.)
Study for Bullfight N°1,1969
Study for a Bull, 1991
In his Study for Bullfight N°1, man and animal are whirling so tightly
(tournoient ) they seem to be melting into one another. The half beast-half
human silhouette of the Minotaur seems to be suddenly looming on the
canvas. His last Study of a Bull gives us a vision of his last
metamorphosis. The animal has eventually won over him. The bull, now
turning white and worn-out with pain and age, is disintegrating into dust.
Interestingly enough, Francis Bacon mixed his paint with some dust of
his studio when painting the floor of the bullring. (l’arène de corrida) This
may well stand for the announcement of his own return to dust but it
also intimates (laisse entendre) that he and the animal were in some ways
very close to each other.
With all we now know about his life, art, and inclination for bullfighting,
let’s take a look inside his Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne Standing in a
Street in Soho.
4
DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS
ISABEL RAWSTHORNE OUTSIDE THE PAINTING
Photos of Isabel Rawsthorne by John Deakin, 1952
Triptych: Three Studies of Isabel Rawsthorne by Francis Bacon, 1966
Isabel Rawsthorne is standing in an anonymous street in Soho, a very famous and
busy area in Central London which is here nearly empty.
She was one of F. Bacon’s closest friends. They often met in the Bohemian Soho
milieu of bars and clubs, namely in a club called “The Colony Room”, where lots of
men and women, artists and intellectuals of any sexual orientation met and drank for
hours.
Though he was gay, Francis Bacon loved staying with women. They were his muses,
they inspired him and stimulated his talents. He loved women who were strong,
intelligent and sensitive and who could more or less replace the mother who showed
indifferent to his misery as an adolescent.
5
She became his confidant. She was a painter like him and a super model for lots of
artists. She married three times, was Epstein’s and Giacometti’s lover, one of
Picasso’s favourite muses and the only woman with whom Francis Bacon had a love
affair.
For all these men, she embodied (incarnait) beauty. She “was tall, lithe (souple),
superbly proportioned… moving with the agility of a feline predator”. There was
“something exotic, suggesting obscure origins… in her full mouth, high cheekbones
(pommettes), and heavy lidded (aux paupières Lourdes), slanting eyes (yeux
légèrement bridés), from which shone forth (d’où s’échappait) a gaze (un regard) of
exceptional, though remote (distant) intensity”. FB. She was described as “a walking
work of art”, (Yorkshire Post, Feb. 2008), her personality was captivating. Michel
Peppiat, Francis Bacon’s biographer, refers to her “animal exhuberance”.
So, what does Francis Bacon’s paintwork (pinceaux) do with his muse in this street?
It is noteworthy that (il convient de noter) he rarely painted portraits in outdoor areas,
which probably means that it was of importance to him. They often met outside, that
may be the reason why he painted her in the street. Here we are immediately caught
(happé) by this intriguing, let’s say, scary woman and by the strange scene that is
taking place in the left-hand side background of the canvas. (right for us)
THE SETTING (le cadre) 1) THE STREET
It is sunny. The sun illuminates her. There is very little shade on the ground. The sky
is painted in pure blue. It must be around noon.
There are neither pavements nor shop-windows in the painting.
The street, where Isabel Rawsthorne is standing, is materialized by a circle painted
with a colour gradient (en degradés) shading from ochre (ocre) to pink.
The circle is surmounted by a metallic frame composed of four metal rods (tiges de
metal) connected at the top and forming a cage. The street looks like a cage-prison
that is confining the woman.
Let’s note here that the cage is a device (procédé) Francis Bacon borrowed from
(emprunta à) Giacometti because it was for him a way of focussing attention on the
figure, of highlighting the person by tightening (rétrécir) the space around him or her.
This round cage is doubled on her right-hand side (left for us) with a sort of curved
solid beige (aplat de beige) panel (panneau). It is blocked by the painter’s frame
(cadre du peintre) on her left (right for us) and by the car wheel which is partly hidden
by a mirror-like panel (panneau-miroir) which itself partly hides the circle.
6
The mirror-like panel, maybe a sliding one (un panneau coulissant),
(propulse) us into a surprising bullfight scene (scène de corrida).
propels
THE SETTING 2) THE ARENA or BULLRING
From the position of the bull, we may infer (déduire) that it is reacting violently to the
bullfighter (torero) who has probably just made a pass. His silhouette is detectable
behind the bulky (massif) animal . Its coat (robe) is just as black as the black panel
inside the mirror-like panel. The bullfight scene must be taking place at night. The
animal coat is (robe de l’animal) swept (balayé) with white lines of paint mixed with
blue strokes on its hindquarters (croupe) and foreparts (avant-train). They make its
robe shine and reveal its powerful muscular structure at the same time. The animal’s
fury is made palpable through the painter’s flashes (fulgurances) of white paint
spread around its hind leg hoof (sabot de sa patte arrière) as it is hitting (frappe) the
ring floor (sol de l’arène).
Its head is also set in a fighting position. We feel that the animal is ready to attack
and kill its opponent (adversaire) with its impressive horn (corne) before the eyes of
the few spectators whose chests (bustes) and heads can be seen behind it.
Francis Bacon’s play upon the various perspectives given by geometrical and circular
overlapping (se chevauchant) plans on the canvas is purely disturbing and makes us
feel dizzy.(nous donne le vertige).
7
In fact, the animal’s horn seems to be getting out of the mirror-like panel and rushing
(foncer) towards the car wheel of the background. The bullfight seems to be
simultaneously played on two plans that interrelate (se mélangent). The car is
substituting for the bull. The street world and the bullfight world are merging
(fusionnent). The street world is converting (se transforme) into a dangerous and
cruel game where man and animal, man and machine, his material extension, are
fighting. The ochred (ocré) circle of the Soho street suddenly changes into a sandy
bullring (arène) where deadly (mortels) bullfights take place.(se produisent)
Francis Bacon’s stroke of genius (trait de génie) here originates from (émane de)
what he suggests rather than from what he shows.
THE TOP AND BOTTOM BLUES
The large blue shapes at the top of the canvas seem to be flapping (flotter) in the air.
They might well be the kind of awnings (auvents) that bartenders (cafetiers) or
shopkeepers (commerçants) hang out in the summer to protect their café terraces or
shopfronts (devantures) from sunrays (rayons de soleil). These blue awnings are,
with the car in the background, the only indicators (repères) of a street.
This blue is the same as the blue that surrounds the circle where Isabel Rawsthorne
is standing. Both blues match each other (se répondent). They confine (enferment)
her even more in the claustrophobic frame- circle-cage-bullring.
She is like a prisoner. So what is she doing, so compact and isolated, in this strange
setting (cadre) which looks more like a bullring than a street?
ISABEL RAWSTHORNE IN THE PAINTING
She is standing in the foreground, slightly (légèrement) turned to the left (right for us)
and showing a three quarter face (de trois quarts) . She is positioned near the edge
(bord) of the circle line which makes her more imposing. This gives her an important
status. She was in fact very important to Francis Bacon. She is painted in black and
looks as straight (droite) as the metal rod (tige) in front of her. She also looks as
strong (solide) as a pillar and simple. She is not wearing any jewels (bijoux). She is
wearing a black light coat over what looks like a black low-cut (décolleté) dress which
is open at the level of her left knee. Her black coat shows silky blue and white hues
(nuances) at its bottom and at the level of her thighs (cuisses). Her neck is painted
in the same dark grey as her legs which are striped (striées) all over by vertical lines
of a dark blue reminiscent of (évocateur de) the venous system (système veineux)
under the skin (peau). The pink and white of the flesh on her face, breast (gorge) and
legs enhance (renforcent) the impact of the black which is predominant in this
portrait.
8
Her right hand looks dissolved (dissoute) by what she is nervously shaking (agite).
The painter intermingles (mélange) black, white and pink curved lines (lignes courbes)
to unveil (dévoiler) her tension. What she is holding must be a muslin scarf (une
mousseline) rather than a handbag. Her left arm and hand cannot be seen. She
must have them behind her back.
What seems to be getting out of her pocket and be like a splash of paint looks
strange. Like the strange shape that can be seen behind her, it cannot be identified.
The black spot of paint we can see as an extension of her right foot is just as strange.
Francis Bacon used to randomly (au hasard) smear (maculer) his paintings here and
there to see what impact chance (hasard) would have on his paintings. (See his
biography) This artistic accident is not deprived of (dépourvu de) interest since it
adds some touches of mystery to the portrait. The blacks, blues and whites of her
clothes and legs coincide with the bull’s. They mirror each other. This means that
both she and the animal are made of the same stuff (étoffe), of the same flesh (chair)
and that they are both imprisoned in their condition. At this very moment, they are
interchangeable.
So, considering her position and her gestures, the muslin she is so nervously shaking
inevitably recalls (rappelle) the cape the bullfighter agitates to stimulate the death
fight (combat à mort).
In this respect (à cet égard), the description of her face is particularly enlightening
(révélatrice) and underlines (souligne) the painter’s originality in this painting. This
face does not at all look like Isabel Rawsthorne’s portrait as it is previously
(précédemment) depicted (décrit) page 7. It looks more like a grotesque mask or,
what seems to be now more appropriate, like an animal face. Her face is as black as
that of a bull. It is slightly turned to the left (right for us) and framed with a long shock
of black hair (chevelure abondante). It evokes an animal mane (crinière) and seems
to form one with the mass of black in the background. All the elements of the scene
seem to be connected to each other, the woman to the street, the street to the
bullfight , the woman to the bullfight.
There is strength (force) and violence in the shape of her face. Her forehead (front)
is domed (bombé) and divided by two arches (arcades) that are excessively
accentuated, first by blue and black thick lines, and secondly by white lines above
them. Her chin is prominent (saillant). It is pulled forth (tiré vers l’avant), as if her
whole face was undergoing (subissait) a mutation which would give it animal
proportions like those of the bull towards which she seems to be turning her black
eyes. The eyes of fighting bulls are typical. They are big, bright and black, just like
hers. Fighting bulls are said to have a man’eyes. This woman’s eyes are intensely
penetrating. She seems to be on the alert (en alerte) and ready to attack like a bull.
The features of her nose, of her nostrils (narines) and of her mouth are heavily
stressed and magnified (grossis) by grotesque curves of bright pink, white and blue.
They are full of ferocity and savagery. The painter’s brush seems to skin them. (les
9
dépecer) With his white curves, he reveals her bones, with his bright pink strokes, he
reveals the blood pulses in her veins, with his blue sweepings (balayages), he
reveals all the nervous tension contained in her half-human half-animal face.
Francis Bacon is showing us a raw face with all the vibrations of its flesh, of the meat
(see biography) that has always fascinated him because it is what contains all the
instinctive power of life in its permanent fight against death which he always felt on
the alert around him.
SYNTHESIS
What has been said so far enables us (nous permet) to think that Francis Bacon has
made two plans merge (fusionnent), that of the Soho street and that of the bullfight,
with a view to making us relate them (pour nous amener à les relier) to each other.
Besides, his portrait also invites us to link the woman to the torero and to the bull so
that she becomes a sort of hybrid character who is fighting for survival in the
dangerous street of Soho which looks like a bullfight ring. For Isabel Rawsthorne as
well as for the painter the street is an arena of a dangerous and savage duel. Both
her expression and her body convey all the emotions which are rising in her and
crossing her flesh and mind at the moment when she is standing, ready to cross the
street. Francis Bacon crystallizes in her and in this surrealistic microcosm of this
Soho street, his own existential anxiety as well as his animal vision of humanity as a
whole. His genius is in the exceptional suggestive power of his art.
It is here worth mentioning that a closer look on the upper (supérieure) part of her
dress reveals a head of a wild animal with its mouth half-open.(la gueule entrouverte)
Didn’t he want here to associate her to or reveal in his painting the animal predator
he so much loved in her? We are now allowed to think so.
What remains to be done is to link this first bullfighting scene to his later works in
which both bull and torero whirl in a flesh-to-flesh ballet. In his triptych, Three Studies
10
for a Corrida, from the first study to the third, we find the same circle-cage-bullring
and the same mirror-like panel (with spectators in the first two studies moving from
left to right). Man and animal fight and so doing progressively contort (se
contorsionnent) and mingle (fusionnent) into a single massive body of flesh pregnant
(riche de) with life, violence and eroticism.
Francis Bacon dramatizes (met en scène) the animal’s and man’s instinctive forces
as well as his own lust for life (rage de vivre) to defy (défier) death and he transcends
them in his art as a sacrifice done for us . Far from exalting death in the bullfight, he
exalts what he shared with and loved in Isabel Rawsthorne, that is to say life in its
savage visceral impulses which helped him fight death in all its possible
manifestations till that 28th of April in 1992, which symbolically enough (chose
symbolique), occurred (survint) in Madrid.
Triptych : Three Studies for a Corrida, 1969
Michel Leiris, a critic and writer as well as Francis Bacon’s faithful (fidèle) friend and
admirer of his art, declared that all his paintings bore traces (comportent des traces)
of fight and crises in which he saw signs of sacrifice and of the sacred (du sacré).
Francis Bacon, he said, is like the matador transpiercing his bull-model (taureaumodèle) with his sword-brush.(pinceau-épée) The painter expresses himself through
his model to reach the level of superior realism. He added that in his duel with the
bull-model, the matador, that is to say the painter, to the detriment of his own safety,
looks for an ultimate chance of survival.
Véronique Roussel.
11