Study for Portrait on Folding Bed
- Artist: Francis Bacon
- Date: 1963
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 1981 x 1473 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Study for Portrait on Folding Bed” by Francis Bacon, painted in 1963. Look at the figure – a man, only half‑clothed in a rolled‑sleeve shirt, sprawled on an unmade folding bed. Bacon has distorted the head and lower torso, turning them into almost abstract, contorted shapes. The paint is thick and visceral; bright reds, dark greens and bruised browns clash, and splatters look almost like bleeding flesh. A few drips cascade from the shoulders down the body, giving the impression of leaking bodily fluids.
Bacon was not happy with the result. He complained about the oval in the lower corner and the absence of a carpet, even saying “I wish they would burn it.” The painting’s raw texture and aggressive brushwork put a spotlight on violence and isolation—key themes in Bacon’s work. The unmade bed, the muddled colors, and the sense that the figure is trapped and exposed all contribute to a powerful, unsettling mood. So, you’re seeing a snapshot of Bacon’s restless exploration of the human form, a moment he later regretted but that now stands out for its intense, almost tactile reality.
See it in person
Study for Portrait on Folding Bed is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
