By the time British-painter Francis Bacon entered his studio in 1979, Richard Avedon had established himself as a leading portraitist at the center of the zeitgeist. Having photographed everyone from The Beatles and Bob Dylan to Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot, he was meeting the celebrated painter with an impressive resume behind him. Bacon, for his part, was internationally renowned for his deeply raw and expressive portraits. Having directed many of his friends as he painted them, he knew just what was needed of him when he sat for the acclaimed photographer. Together, they created a portrait that remains an icon of 20th century photography.
Paying homage to Bacon’s own tendency towards sequential studies, Avedon’s portrait combines two negatives. In the left frame, Bacon is depicted with his eyebrow pensively raised, mouth slightly agape; in the right frame, Bacon is strategically placed in partial view, as if hiding behind his own portrait on the left. By doing so, Avedon may have intended to present two versions of Bacon: one of the public figure—up close and almost confrontational, the other more private and pensive as it recedes in the background. Recounting the session years later, Avedon recalled,
"... Bacon immediately acted the role of the private Bacon with the greatest purity and economy of gesture, and yet it was filled with authentic feeling. Without my saying a word, he understood what my portrait was about, what it called for from him, and he still remained true to himself. No one could act Bacon but Bacon."
