It's well known that Bacon incorporated found imagery into his paintings. Bacon obsessed over the paintings by Soutine and Picasso: their work littered his studio in reproductions. But where else did they turn up? Certain forms by the each artist might have found themselves incorporated into his own paintings. Without ignoring possible coincidences, the two resembling forms I've selected here may been used as points of departure from the beginning of a painting, or as devices to resolve compositional problems he encountered.
Comparing borrowed forms has been an integral part of Baconian study. I'm not sure if specifically these images have been assessed together in that context, but I don't consider them too different to be merely coincidental...
Above left to right:
Left: Chaim Soutine - Street at Cagnes (La Gaude) (detail), 1923
Francis Bacon - Three Studies for a Crucifixion (Right panel) (detail, flipped), 1962
Bottom left to right:
Pablo Picasso - The Old Guitarist (detail, flipped), 1903-04
Francis Bacon - Head I (detail), 1947-48
Comparing borrowed forms has been an integral part of Baconian study. I'm not sure if specifically these images have been assessed together in that context, but I don't consider them too different to be merely coincidental...
Above left to right:
Left: Chaim Soutine - Street at Cagnes (La Gaude) (detail), 1923
Francis Bacon - Three Studies for a Crucifixion (Right panel) (detail, flipped), 1962
Bottom left to right:
Pablo Picasso - The Old Guitarist (detail, flipped), 1903-04
Francis Bacon - Head I (detail), 1947-48
