About this artwork
This is one of the last paintings Bacon completed. It is the second in a series of three portraits of his friend, the artist Anthony Zych. Zych appears to be standing in a doorway, possibly that of the artist's studio. The camera tripod is an element repeated from the central panel of a triptych painted in 1944. Bacon's portraits were almost without exception of people with whom he was familiar. He preferred to paint his subjects not from life but from photographs. This was the first painting by Bacon to enter the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.
Updated before 2020
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artist:
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title:Study for a Portrait March 1991
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date created:1991
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materials:Oil and pastel on canvas
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measurements:198.00 x 147.50 cm; Framed: 218.20 x 167.00 x 8.00 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and presented 1995
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accession number:GMA 3914
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gallery:
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depicted:
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Bacon was born in Dublin to English parents and in the late 1920s spent time in Berlin and Paris before settling in London. It was only after seeing an exhibition of Picasso's work in Paris that he decided to become a painter. Self-taught, he gained some success as a designer of furniture and rugs...