Portrait

Francis Bacon British, born Ireland

ca. 1930

Not on view

This drawing is one of Bacon’s earliest works and his first known portrait. It represents an imagined boy, although it may be based on the likeness of his older brother, Harley, who had died the previous year. Portrait is stylistically distinct from Bacon’s mature works, and contains none of the psychological torment and physical distortion evident in his later paintings. Yet the boy’s sickly face, distracted gaze, and unnaturally red shirt evoke a sense of strangeness and alienation—pervasive themes in the artist’s oeuvre. Bacon would continue to explode the genre of portraiture for fifty more years. This portrait demonstrates the artist’s approach to the genre at the beginning of his career, before he began working seriously with oil, his primary medium.

Artwork Details

Title: Portrait
Artist: Francis Bacon (British (born Ireland), Dublin 1909–1992 Madrid)
Date: ca. 1930
Medium: Pastel with graphite on paper, mounted on paper
Dimensions: 15 3/4 × 12 1/2 in. (40 × 31.8 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Drue Heinz Trust, 2018
Object Number: 2018.651.2
Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

By Francis Bacon

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Head I, Francis Bacon British, born Ireland, Oil and tempera on board — Head I
Francis Bacon
1947–48

Three Studies for Self-Portrait, Francis Bacon British, born Ireland, Oil on canvas — Three Studies for Self-Portrait
Francis Bacon
1979

Large Interior, Los Angeles, David Hockney British, Oil, ink on cut-and-pasted paper, on canvas — Large Interior, Los Angeles
David Hockney
1988

Self-Portrait, Egon Schiele Austrian, Watercolor, graphite, and opaque watercolor on paper — Self-Portrait
Egon Schiele
1911

May Picture, Paul Klee German, born Switzerland, Oil on cardboard — May Picture
Paul Klee
1925

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