Francis Bacon: and the Loss of Self

by Ernst van Alphen

According to most of the critical commentary on Francis Bacon, the paintings by this crucially important artist are about violence, torment, fragmentation and loss. However, Ernst van Alphen argues that it is the violence done to the viewer that needs to be addressed if we are to understand how these works function.

In this provocative and highly original interpretation of Bacon's art, the author offers close readings of significant works, discussing them in relationship to theories of schizophrenia, masculinity and contemporary literature, as well as issues of representation and visuality. By looking at the paintings in intricate detail and exploring their connections within cultural theory, van Alphen brings Bacon into the context of the contemporary critical debate.

"This examination of critical reactions to Bacon is very welcome"— The Art Newspaper

Genres: Art, Art History, Biography

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In some ways, this is one of the best theoretical examinations of Bacon since Deleuze. Van Leyden interprets Bacon's work as philosophical discourses on sight/perception in a semiotic framework; most scholars do not give his work this much credit in their more abstract performance of ideology(c.f. Brendan Prendeville for a rejection of this methodology). He places Bacon in-between modernism & post-modernism in a way I agree with, & puts his works in dialogue with lots of important post-modernist thinkers. However, I think he ultimately places too much weight on these comparative studies, spending large parts of chapters looking at literature instead of demonstrating the agency he (rightfully imo) supposes these images have. Secondly, he is very intent on these works deriving their meaning from a negative dialectic w western philosophy & repressentation, and I feel this is undervaluing them. I recommend the intro & the second chapter on perception.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the medieval philosopher but the 20th century painter (I was reading this book on an airplane and the person sitting next to me said: “Wasn’t he Shakespeare?” The beautiful full color plates of Bacon’s paintings came in handy to end that conversation.) And that anecdote is a perfect lead-in to Alphen’s approach to analyzing Bacon’s art: he explores how it affects its viewers. He also makes a strong case for Bacon’s postmodernity with his primary theme of loss of self. I found his discussion of the way Bacon inverted the mirror and the lamp theme fascinating. Also fascinating was the theme of the deforming of bodies as emblems of the dissolving self. Great analysis here. And lots of great pictures, most in color, of Bacon’s paintings.