In March 1972, Peter Beard photographed Francis Bacon on the roof of his studio at 80 Narrow Street in London. The occasion was a series of conversations between the artists that became known as the Dead Elephant Interviews and elicited some of Bacon’s most articulate and thoughtful statements on his art.
The young artist first met the Irish painter in 1967 in London at an opening of Bacon’s work at Marlborough Gallery. Beard was enormously flattered to find that Bacon was aware of his 1965 book, The End of the Game, and the two found they had much in common. Thus began a remarkably fruitful artistic friendship played out in person and through mailed correspondence, in painted canvases and photographic prints. At the core of their relationship was a fascination with the paradoxical power of images to document and mystify.
Just as Beard became a favorite subject for Bacon, appearing in nine major paintings, Bacon likewise became a favorite subject for Beard, and the portrait seen here is one that he returned to time and time again as the basis for his unique compositions. With its blurred effect, Bacon’s face is a clear reference to the characteristic facial distortions seen throughout his own paintings, while the print’s embellishments, including a handprint in paint, collaged photograph and foil, are a hallmark of Beard’s inimitable multi-media style. The smear of blood at center mimics the movement captured in Bacon’s face but also serves as a visceral symbol that likely appealed to Bacon’s artistic favorings. As transcribed from the Dead Elephant Interviews, he notes, “I don’t think of a picture as the same as life but I think in a curious way that the pictures that I like reflect life and return me to life more valiantly.” Indeed, Beard’s regular use of blood, is a compelling reminder of the realities and complexities of the world and a further indication of the artists’ shared sensibilities.
Beard’s visually dynamic tableaux are often balanced by contextualizing annotations. Here, Beard’s caption notes that Bacon’s studio on Narrow Street was ‘soon to be lost to gambling,’ an acknowledgement of the great painter’s frequently precarious finances that adds a humanizing dimension to Beard’s portrait.
