Crouching Figure 1974/77. by Francis Bacon, 1909-1992

Francis Bacon, 1909-1992
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Crouching Figure 1974/77.

Aquatint and etching printed in colours. 1974/81. Signed in pencil. Inscribed in pencil as 'E.A.' (Epreuve d'Artiste - Artist's Proof). Proof for the edition of 99 impressions. Issued by Editions de la Difference, Paris 1981. No 2 of the series of three aquatints 'Triptych 1974-77' etched in
1981.

Excellent impression with unfaded colours. On pale cream wove Arches paper. Excellent condition. Full margins. Sheet: 25 3/4 x 19 3/4ins. Plate: 15 1/8 x 11 3/4ins (385x296mm).

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Bacon?s first publicly exhibited painting, in 1944, was a study of figures at a Crucifixion. It established what was to remain the central theme of his art, his pessimism about the role and purpose of man?s life and his struggle against the possible ultimate futility of even the most inspired creation?s of man?s mind. Striving to express his feelings in the face of this possible futility, and his constant attempts none the less to achieve a creation which might go beyond this inadequacy, remained the motivation of his art.

The main motif of Bacon?s art was the human figure. His treatment of it, with the forms of the limbs distorted and twisted as if in agony, and the powerful colours of his rich palette, gives his work an expressionist strength and visual power. In his painting there is a virtuoso handling of the actual pigment and a minute attention to the detail of each stroke. Of ten he would take the theme or motif of one painting and rework it in a subsequent canvas. His prints are all directly based on his paintings but he took great care to see that they echo these same qualities.

Bacon made all his prints late in his life. He was the first to say that he was not really a printmaker and relied on the work of the master printers at the studio to help achieve the qualities of surface, colour and texture that he needed.. He made almost all his prints in Paris at Editions de la Difference, Arts Litho or Atelier Visat, and he took great pains to make sure before the plates were finished that they had the real qualities of his painting.