Portrait with Red Blanket 16

Artist Francis Giacobetti (Marseille, France, born 1939)

SitterSitter is Francis Bacon (Dublin, Ireland, 1909 - 1992)

Date2004

Mediumcolour photograph

ClassificationsPhotographs

Dimensions100 x 150cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 2004 with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG014297

About MeIn 1991 the photographer Francis Giacobetti entered into a photographic collaboration with Francis Bacon. The result was a remarkable series of images of Bacon, largely inspired by the art that he had created during the previous five decades.

Bacon was by then in his nineties (he died the following April); this was to be the last time that his very distinctive physiognomy was captured by another artist.
By using props, dramatic lighting and manipulating the images electronically Giacobetti transformed his photographs into eerie and haunting works of art. Although still recognisable in this work Bacon's head is seen as a spectral trace, hovering on the edge of darkness. In his remarkable sitter Giacobetti found a darker subject matter than he had used hitherto and through him expresses the angst of existence and the shadow of death.

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Giacobetti used dramatic lighting and electronic manipulation to make this haunting photograph of Francis Bacon in his nineties