Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne Standing in a Street in Soho

Isabel Rawsthorne Standing in a Street In Soho, 1967. Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne, Photograph commissioned by Bacon. John Deakin, c.1966–67

Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne Standing in a Street in Soho is a 1967 oil on canvas painting by the Irish-born British figurative artist Francis Bacon, housed in the Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin. Described by art critic John Russell as one of Bacon's finest works,^[1] it depicts Isabel Rawsthorne, the painter, designer and occasional model for artists such as André Derain, Alberto Giacometti and Picasso.

Bacon met her in the late 1940s through Erica Brausen, who was exhibiting both artists in her Hanover Gallery in London. He portrayed Rawsthorne many times, including three large scale canvases and three triptychs in the 1960s, as well as around 15 smaller portraits.^[2] She was a great beauty with striking facial features, and was a formidable character. She fascinated Bacon and was perhaps the friend he respected most during the 1960s. According to his biographer Michael Peppiatt, "in her animal exuberance and the resolute sense of her individuality ... she had a magnetism and mobility of expression that captivated Bacon".^[3] Although notably gay, in an interview soon after her death in January 1992, Bacon hinted that they had recently had an affair.^[2]^[4]

Description

Three Studies of Isabel Rawsthorne, Francis Bacon, 1966

Bacon's 1960s paintings are characterised by closely modeled heads. By this time he was highly social, and liked to spend long nights with associates such as Lucian Freud (they later fell out, for unexpained reasons), Peter O'Toole, George Melly, Muriel Belcher, John Deakin and Henrietta Moraes. Belcher was a close friend, and the proprietor of the highly selective Colony Room in Dean Street, Soho.

The extant portraits of Belcher are unusual for Bacon who was so preoccupied with figures in rooms, in that it has an outdoor setting. After the 1950s, and apart from his bullfight series, it is one of the few to place the subject outdoors.^[5] In addition it is one of his few in which the subject seems aware and engaged with its surroundings. Interestingly, the other portraits that show a similarly outwards looking figure are also of Rawsthorne.^[6]

References

Notes

↑ Russell 1971, p. 125.
1 2 Zweite 2006, p. 148.
↑ Peppiatt 1996, pp. 204–205.
↑ His only earlier sexual encounter with a woman was with a prostitute. Bacon claims it was unsuccessful.
↑ Sylvester 2000, p. 151.
↑ Farr, Peppiatt & Yard 1999, p. 55.

Sources

Farr, Dennis; Peppiatt, Michael; Yard, Sally (1999). Francis Bacon: A Retrospective. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8109-2925-8.
Peppiatt, Michael (1996). Anatomy of an Enigma. London: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-3520-9.
Russell, John (1971). Francis Bacon (World of Art). New York: Norton. ISBN 978-0-500-20169-5.
Sylvester, David (2000). Looking back at Francis Bacon. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0500019940.
Zweite, Armin (ed). (2006). The Violence of the Real. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-09335-0.

Francis Bacon

Figures	Figure Study I (1945-56) Figure in a landscape (1945) Painting (1946) Fragment of a Crucifixion (1950) Study from the Human Body (1949) Study for Crouching Nude (1952) Dog (1952) Two Figures (1953) Three Studies from the Human Head (1953) Study for the Nurse in the film Battleship Potemkin (1957) Lying Figure (1966) Three Studies of the Male Back (1970) Three Figures and Portrait (1975) Two Seated Figures (1979) Carcase of Meat and Bird of Prey (1980) Diptych (1982-84) Blood on the Floor (Painting) (1986)

Head series	Head I Head II Head III Head IV Head V Head VI

Popes	Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953) Popes I-VI (1953) Figure with Meat (1954) Study from Innocent X (1962)

Triptychs	Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1944) Three Studies for a Crucifixion (1962) Lying Figure with Hypodermic Syringe (1963) Three Figures in a Room (1964) Crucifixion (1965) Triptych inspired by T.S Elliot's 'Sweeney Agonistes' (1964) Three Studies for George Dyer (1967) Two Figures Lying on a bed with Attendants (1968) After Muybridge - Study of the Human Figure in Motion - Woman Emptying a Bowl of Water (1970) Triptych 1976 (1976) Second Version of Triptych 1944 (1988)

Portraits	Study for Three Heads (1962) Three Studies for a Portrait of Henrietta Moraes, (1963) Three Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer (1964) Double Portrait of Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach (1964) Study for a Portrait (Isabel Rawsthorn) (1964) Three Studies for the Head of Isabel Rawsthorn (1965) Three Studies for a Portrait of Lucian Freud (1965) Portrait of Lucian Freud (on Orange Couch) (1965) Portrait of George Dyer Talking (1966) Three Studies of Muriel Belcher (1966) Study for Head of George Dyer (1966) Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne Standing in a Street in Soho (1967) Portrait of George Dyer and Lucian Freud (1967) Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969) Three Studies of Henrietta Moraes laughing (1969) Female Nude Standing in a Doorway (1972) Three Studies for a Portrait of Peter Beard (1975) Portrait of Michel Leris, 1976 (1976) Portrait of Michel Leris, 1978 (1978) Sphinx: Portrait of Muriel Blecher (1979) Three Studies for a Self Portrait (1980)

Black Triptychs	In Memory of George Dyer (1971) Triptych–August 1972 (1972) Triptych, May–June 1973 (1973)

Self-portraits	Self-portrait (1973) Three Studies for a Self Portrait (1973) Self-portrait (1973) Seated Figure (1974) Sleeping Figure (1974) Three Studies for a Self Portrait (1974) Three Studies for a Self Portrait (1976) Three Studies for a Self Portrait (1979) Study for a Self-Portrait—Triptych, 1985–86 (1985)

Summary articles	List of paintings by Francis Bacon List of large triptychs by Francis Bacon Triptychs by Francis Bacon The Black Triptychs Influences on

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Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne Standing in a Street in Soho

Description

References

Notes

Sources

Further reading