Catalogue entry
T07357
Oil and ballpoint pen on white wove paper
340 x 270 (13 3/8 x 10 5/8)
Purchased from Paul Danquah and Peter Pollock with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Art Collections Fund and a group of anonymous donors in memory of Mario Tazzoli, 1998
Provenance:
Acquired from the artist (by 1961)
Exhibited:
Francis Bacon: Working on Paper, Tate Gallery, London, February-April 1999 (7, reproduced in colour)
Literature:
Matthew Gale, ‘Points of Departure’, in Francis Bacon: Working on Paper, display cat., Tate Gallery, London 1999, p.29
The figure confined to a corner space may simply be an image of relaxation, but
the loosely indicated horizontals suggest an association with boxing. The figure appears to be thrown back, two sets of arms - one raised and the other resting on the ropes - suggest the sequence of a slump either in exhaustion or under a blow. This interpretation gains circumstantial support both from Bacon’s interest in the sport and from the recurrence of boxing images in other sheets from the same spiral-bound sketchbook. Certainly one of the previous owners of the drawing, Paul Danquah, believed the subject to be boxing… (read more)
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