When Bacon Painted Love’s Shadows in Six Feet of Turmoil

Few artistic relationships are as raw as Francis Bacon’s with George Dyer, immortalized in the towering Portrait of George Dyer Crouching. Painted in 1966, this six-foot canvas isn’t just a portrait—it’s a psychological battleground, where Dyer’s form blurs with Bacon’s own features, hinting at the tangled intensity of their bond. Out of ten grand portraits Bacon created of Dyer between 1966 and 1968, only nine remain, with this piece rarely seen outside private collections. The work’s debut at Sotheby’s this May marks a rare moment: the first time in a decade that such a monumental Dyer portrait enters the auction spotlight. Bacon’s depiction of Dyer, shirtless and fragmented, captures not just a lover but the vulnerability and volatility that fueled some of the most haunting images in modern art. In the end, the canvas holds more than paint—it holds the echo of a love that shaped an era. #FrancisBacon #GeorgeDyer #ModernArt