In the footsteps of art: The tragic love affair of artists Francis Bacon and George Dyer
The brutality in his portrait works has become a characteristic, making his name reach beyond any concept or definition.
Francis Bacon became one of Britain's most famous painters of the 20th century for his energetic paintings, which combined the influence of Surrealism with the legacy of the classical Masters. In particular, the brutality in his portrait works has become a characteristic feature, making his name reach beyond any concept or definition.
Besides his artistic ability, Francis Bacon - a gay man - struggled with many challenges in a post-war British context filled with discrimination. Social pressure weighed heavily on the artist, deeply affecting his personal life. However, the artist was still able to convey these experiences into his work, using painting as a means to express the trauma he endured. In particular, his tumultuous relationship with George Dyer has been recorded in a series of works, which can be traced back to 1964.
A tragic love affair
In the early 1960s, Francis Bacon was a successful painter and notoriously…alcoholic. He frequented various bars and was said to lead a decadent lifestyle. In 1963, on a random night, the artist met George Dyer, also at a pub. The 30-year-old Londoner quickly fascinated the artist, thanks to his trusting and vulnerable nature, and conversely, Francis Bacon's confidence and success fascinated George. From here begins the tumultuous relationship between the two. By the mid-1960s, the artist's young lover was never absent from exhibition openings in London, New York or Paris, always enthusiastically introducing to visitors the works that he himself was the source of. inspiration.
The stronger the relationship between the two became, the more portraits Francis Bacon produced of his friends, most of which were portraits of George. These works gave him more status, dignity, and even became his way of life. However, Bacon's interests also tended towards a group of intellectual friends including John Deakin, Henrietta Moraes, Lucian Freud... This brought a lot of bitterness to George.
By 1970, Francis Bacon became George Dyer's provider, while his lover was always drunk and aggressive, always "familiarizing" everyone present at the bar with drinks. The artist had several troubled relationships, and although George Dyer was his greatest inspiration, their relationship was unstable and had to come to an end. In 1971, just 2 days before Francis Bacon's most successful exhibition opened at the Grand Palais (Paris); Depression, alcoholism, jealousy, and lack of attention from his busy lover, Dyer committed suicide in the couple's hotel bathroom.
A tragic ending
The end of the relationship between Francis Bacon and George Dyer became an important milestone in the life of this famous artist. Although Bacon had many muses, lovers and friends, George had a significant influence on his art and life. It was Bacon who prevented many of Dyer's previous suicide attempts.
Bacon learned about his lover's death on the opening night of the exhibition, but he still tried to interact with critics and audiences about the works on display. Yet in his later works, he could not hide his shock. From 1972 to 1974, Francis Bacon created a series of paintings called “The Black Triptychs” to talk about deep sadness and remembering his deceased partner. This series of works depicts the moments before, during, and after Dyer's death, as if attempting to synthesize and rationalize this tragedy. The images in the paintings are fragmentary, depicting characters collapsing in a place like a toilet, often accompanied by symbolic motifs such as black horizontal creatures, arrows... talking about tragedy and pain, accompanied by the artist's regret.
Portraits of lovers
Francis Bacon painted George Dryer in many works. Among them, the first painting in 1964 depicts George in three different perspectives, based on photos taken by John Deakin.
Another notable painting is “Portrait of George Dryer Talking,” done in 1966, the artist's most productive period. In this portrait, Dyer sits in a swivel chair in a colourful room. The main character's face and body are distorted, his legs are crossed. Above Dyer hangs a light bulb, a recurring motif in Bacon's works. A year later, Bacon painted "Portrait of George Dyer and Lucian Freud", but the artist destroyed this painting before introducing it to the public. The only thing confirming its existence is a photo.
Later, Francis Bacon refrained from assigning clear meaning to his works. He continued to create art until his health declined due to asthma, and he died in 1992. George Dyer is present in countless paintings and sketches, a reminder of his impact. the depth of love on the artist's life and career.
According to Widewalls
