Lot 2038 email save

Francis Bacon, a paint spattered canvas from his

Francis Bacon, a paint spattered canvas from his Studio, 24" x 20", the front with notes in Bacon's hand, "Figure upside down on sofa; seen from distance as in crouching figure" The reverse with further notes "April 12 standing figure, seated figure, lying (?) figure from Muybridge". This is a Rowney G quality canvas which has been mounted in the "correct" way so that the rough surface is at the back. Bacon is known to have always used the back side of canvases for his paintings except for his early works and it is possible that this canvas was discarded and became a note pad because in fact it was the "wrong way round for him". Bacon's use of notes on new compositions is now widely recognised as being one of his ways of recording important composition details. There are numerous examples of notes which were found at Reece Mews after his death, some of which were even written on the walls and on the pages of books.
Provenance: The Robertson Collection