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Artworks
after Study for Bullfight no. 1 (1969) full sheet
Francis Bacon
after Study for Bullfight no.1 (1969) - left panel, 1971
Lithograph on Arches paper
48 x 35.7 cm.
19 x 14 in.
19 x 14 in.
Edition of 150 (plus proofs)
Signed in pencil lower right
£18,000 GBP
Further images
Edition of 150, 5 H.C. (Hors Commerce) proofs. The numbering is only on the colophon of Miroir de la Tauromachie with Arabic numbering. The 5 H.C. with Roman numbering. Each...
Edition of 150, 5 H.C. (Hors Commerce) proofs. The numbering is only on the colophon of Miroir de la Tauromachie with Arabic numbering. The 5 H.C. with Roman numbering. Each lithograph is not therefore numbered individually, however, each sheet is individually signed. Inspired by the painting of the same title in the collection of the Musee des Beaux-Artes, de Lyon, France
Francis Bacon’s after Study for Bullfight no.1 (1969) (left panel) is a powerful meditation on mortality, violence, and the human condition. Drawing on Michel Leiris’ intellectual fascination with bullfighting, Bacon transforms the spectacle of the bullring into a deeply symbolic and existential work of art. Bacon and Leiris use the bullfight as a metaphor for how human identity is shaped by external pressures—social, cultural, and existential—and how these pressures can easily lead to collapse or transformation. For them, the ritualised confrontation with death, the fragile construction of identity, and the ongoing struggle between order and chaos are all central aspects of the human experience. This precarious yet flamboyant dance between life and death within a bullfight becomes a concentrated symbol of what it means to live, to face mortality, and to attempt to impose meaning on a chaotic world.
For further information on the original painting please visit the Francis Bacon Estate page: https://www.francis-bacon.com/artworks/paintings/study-bullfight-no-2
Francis Bacon’s after Study for Bullfight no.1 (1969) (left panel) is a powerful meditation on mortality, violence, and the human condition. Drawing on Michel Leiris’ intellectual fascination with bullfighting, Bacon transforms the spectacle of the bullring into a deeply symbolic and existential work of art. Bacon and Leiris use the bullfight as a metaphor for how human identity is shaped by external pressures—social, cultural, and existential—and how these pressures can easily lead to collapse or transformation. For them, the ritualised confrontation with death, the fragile construction of identity, and the ongoing struggle between order and chaos are all central aspects of the human experience. This precarious yet flamboyant dance between life and death within a bullfight becomes a concentrated symbol of what it means to live, to face mortality, and to attempt to impose meaning on a chaotic world.
For further information on the original painting please visit the Francis Bacon Estate page: https://www.francis-bacon.com/artworks/paintings/study-bullfight-no-2
Provenance
Published and printed by the Galerie Lelong Paris, on Arches paper by Mourlot, ParisPublications
Bruno Sabatier, Francis Bacon, The Graphic Work, no. 29Alexandre Tacou, Francis Bacon, Estampes, no. 10