How Do Works Of Art Signify? 

When a work of art is viewed or studied we look at it often from a personal point of view, we may come at it with a pre-conceived prospective, what are the denotations in the art ? What are the connotations ?  what does it suggest ? does it imply an ideology ? we often have no pre conception at all and stumble across a piece of art accidentally and wonder what is it all about, we may come to a conclusion that is completely different from what others conclude or whatever the artist intended to signify, indeed the artist may even have nothing to say at all, the artist may just want to produce, the artist may even just wish to perform, sculpte or paint. Which is what Francis Bacon said about his art "he claimed his was only about painting"(Freeland, 2001, p152). This is of course disputed by many art critics and academics, his work is violent, tortured and disturbing to view " Bacon's paintings express angst or despair" (Freeland, 2001, p155). 

Francis Bacon was probably one of the finest British painters of the 20th century "Alongside JMW Turner, Bacon is regarded as Britain's finest painter" (Holtham, 2012, Tate online). The painting that launched Bacon into the limelight was the heavily Picasso influenced "Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion", 1944, first exhibited April 1945 at the Lefevre Gallery in London.  

 

Francis bacon, "Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion" 1944, Tate.  

What are the signs and language of this piece, how does this piece signify ? what is the narrative behind these nightmarish images ? The Tate comments, in a description of the piece, that it reflects on a post World War two trauma " For some Bacon's triptych reflects the pessimistic world ushered in by the Holocaust and the advent of nuclear weapons" (Tate, Online, 2016).   I disagree, the piece was painted before the end of World War two when little imagery or knowledge of the Holocaust was available and the effects of a nuclear attack had not been seen, however there maybe some references to Bacon's war experience, as an orderly in World War two he helped remove dead bodies from bombed buildings,"his horrific imagery may reflect his experience in cleaning corpses out of bombed buildings"(Freeland, 2001, p152), the center and right panel depict screaming  figures, could these be interpreted as the death faces of those he pulled from the rubble? I have my doubts. I have stood in front of this triptych at a exhibition at the Liverpool Tate, my belief is that the painting is a sign of the trauma Bacon experienced as a  child and early adulthood.  

How do I read the denotations in the painting ? When I look at this triptych I see three, extremely disfigured human figures, two of which are raised on what could be described as furniture and one that is standing on what could be described as a mat or carpet. Each figure looks in pain, two with mouths that seem to scream, the center figure is blindfolded, all set against bright orange backdrops. Each figure is isolated within a room, each figure is isolated by the triptych format 

 There are many connotations to surmise from, as the painting is dominated by the orange colour its fair to look at this aspect of the painting first. Contrary to my previous dismissal about the painting being influenced by World War 2  the bright orange colour could be read as a reference to Bacon's war time experience during The Blitz, that would tie in with the time the painting was executed, the orange is very similar to the glow of the night sky as London burned after a bombing raid, but to back up my belief the painting has little to do with Bacon's war experiences the artist has said about the colour orange "the same goes for orange, which is my favorite colour, I couldn't explain in any satisfactory way the reasons why I find it such a beautiful colour)" (Archimbaud, 1993 P170). So reading the painting it could be said that orange was used because of the simple fact that he liked the colour, or it could be that it was not a conscious use of the colour but an unconscious use, a sub-conscious use. Could the use of the colour orange reflect a pain, a torment ? Bright colours on the same spectrum as orange are often used in painting that depict hell in religious paintings or slaughter houses and hanging meats, a depiction of pain and torture, Bacon was a fan of such painting, Bacon may have seen Rembrant's "The Slaughtered Ox" in Paris during a visit in 1928 "I've always been moved by pictures about slaughter houses and meat" (Sylvester, 1987, p23). It is a strange thing to say, why would he say that ? perhaps the use of orange as the defining colour in this triptych is a sign of Bacon's sub conscious inner torment, yes he liked it but for the reasons of torment, he enjoyed the pleasure of torment. 

 

Rembrant, "The Slaughtered Ox", 1655, The Louvre. 

The orange in Bacon's triptych is the colour of the room the figures sit in, the room is defined by a set of lines that provide a frame or armature for the figures to hang within. This armature could be a symbol and read as the cross of a crucifixion, although you would only know this by reading the title of the piece, otherwise the lines of the room on first viewing could be regarded as a cage. A cage is a tool to isolate, a cross in a crucifixion is an armature to hang  from, both act to put a perpetrator on view for all to see, but is this a religious statement ? It is a well know fact that Bacon hated religion and was an atheist, he once said of St Peter's in Rome "I loath churches"  (Sylvester, 1987, p38) so by definition the use of a crucifixion is an anti religious statement, so is this painting a sign of that atheist belief? I believe so. My belief is that the use of such an armature in the painting points to the artist looking at how one person treats another, how religion shames those who do not believe, putting them on public display, held up for ridicule, torture and pain, Bacon said "I know for religious people, for Christians, the crucifixion has a totally different significance but as a non-believer, it was just an act of man's behavior, a way of behavior to another" (Sylvester, 1987, p23).  

Another sign of Bacon's atheistic ideology can be read in the use of a triptych format for the painting, triptychs were commonly used to tell religious stories within churches and places of worship, icons, was this a sign of Bacon's view on the hypocrites in religion and the religious, he often expressed his contempt for the religious "I can't help admiring but despising them, living by a total falseness, which I think they are living by their religious views" (Sylvester, 1987, p134)  

The raised pedestals which each of the three figures sits, Bacon talks about Christ on the cross as a raised figure, "raised into a very pronounced and isolated position" (Sylvester, 1987, p46). According to Christians, Christ suffers for the good of mankind, but here Bacon depicts three Eumenides, three figures from Greek mythology that pursue those who are unpunished, goddess's of vengeance, these are raised up on a chair, a table and a stretch of flooring, easily defined everyday objects, denotations, they hold up distinctly un religious figures from a mythology far from Christianity, held high and prominent for all to see, I read this as Bacon saying,  here I am, a tortured soul waiting for the pain of vengeance to be inflicted on me. The use of pedestals  symbolizes the raised perspective of a figure on the cross. The depiction of figures from a non Christian Greek mythology reads as a paganist or atheistic ideology. 

A further connotation of the raised figures could be a reflection of a cruel childhood. Bacon's father ran a racing stables in Ireland, it is well document that he mistreated Bacon, "Bacon had an horrendous relationship with his Father, who whipped and kicked him out as a child for his homosexuality" (Freeland, 2001, p152). He would often have sexual rendezvous with his father's stable boys which could be described as violent encounters, he would be whipped. This must have affected the way he felt about himself. David Sylvester suggests that Bacon uses the symbol of a crucifixion because, it raises a figure up, to highlight a "tragic figure"(Sylvester, 1987, p26). The raised tortured figures could be a sign of Bacon's inner feelings towards his Father's rejection, he seeks to be noticed, he seeks attention or it could be read as critic and biographer Annalyn Swan says  "a revenge motif to his father" (Curson, 2017, BBC online, 11:50). 

Francis Bacon said "We are meat, we are potential carcasses"(Sylvester, 1987, p46), this meat, the carcasses can be clearly defined in the three figures of this triptych. They have a human quality to them, but still look like slabs of meat, they could also be described as phallic in nature. In the left hand side panel the figure is sat on a chair, wrapped or bound in a sheath of cloth, the head is bowed in submission, hair falls over a tormented face the shoulders and neck are visually phallic. 

 

Francis Bacon, left panel,"Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion" 1944, Tate. 

 The center panel figure stands astride a table pedestal, once again the figure is phallic with its long neck, it is bent over, expectant, exposing a naked human rear end. The figure is blindfolded and has a tormented scream as a facial expression. Is the figure waiting in anticipation of punishment 

 

Francis Bacon, centre panel,"Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion" 1944, Tate. 

The right hand panel is clearly influenced by an animal carcass, but again has a human quality, the figure appears to be on all fours, bent over, imbedded on a torturous floor, a bed of nails ?, the straw floor of a stable ? the head screams, does the head scream in agony or ecstasy? The figure enters the triptych from the right, could the floor be grass, is the figure an on looker from the outside in, perhaps a sign of the artist feeling isolated, left out in the cold. 

 

Francis Bacon, right panel,"Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion" 1944, Tate 

To read the signs, symbols and ideology of this piece is very difficult, but I strongly believe this painting expresses a personal violent narrative of Bacon's early life, his preference for violent homosexual behavior, a preference for sadomachoism. The signs of a homosexual ideology are there, although bearing in mind the time the painting was exhibited, as it is not obvious, homosexuality was illegal at this time, but it can be read into this piece, the phallic nature, combined with the posture of the figures, and the knowledge we have that Bacon visited pre war 1920's Berlin, it was hotbed of gay bars and nightclubs, it must have had an effect on his lifestyle. The figures are confined, gasping for life or are they a sign of Bacon's frustration at his hidden sexuality. 

One of the several prominent ideologies and signs of the painting indicate Bacon's sadomachoism tendencies. The bowed submissive head, the blindfold, the images of violence and torture and the screams. The sadomachoism tendencies of Bacon are believed to be true, many friends and art critics have commented on it in books and documentaries, although many accounts are after this painting was made the tendencies were probably formed during his abused childhood although art historian John Richardson said Bacon was "born a machoistic" (Curson, 2017, BBC online, 09:47). 

The screams ? Screams of torture and pain is one way to interpret the gaping mouths, both the center and right panels depict wide excruciated mouths. Above I have described these as a possible sign of pain, agony or ecstasy but it could be a sign of none of these. As a child Bacon suffered from severe bouts of asthma. For a child this is an agony and a torture, are these mouths gasping for breath? During these asthmatic attacks Bacon was confined to his room, the left panel depicts a forlorn sad figure wrapped in a blanket, is this another sign of his confinement ?  Typically, Bacon  just said that he liked painting mouths, that "most of them but not all" (Sylvester, 1987, p48)  where screams. His mouths where influenced by a book of medical photographs, of diseased mouths, he acquired the book whilst in Paris, on the same visit he first saw Picasso in 1928. This points to a sign of fascination with pain. Another depiction of pain and torment associated with the mouth and an influence on Bacon was Sergei Eisenstein's film The Battleship Potemkin, there is the shot of the screaming mother as she losses her baby and pram down a flight of steps, her gaping mouth is a silent movie scream, much like Bacon's three figures. For Bacon in his early work  and in particular "Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion"  the mouth is a connotation, a silent expression of his inner pain, torment and frustration, it’s a way of interpreting without a text narrative, its instead a visual narrative. 

To conclude it is important to understand what signifies Bacon's first major work, the work is a personal reflection of Bacon's life up to that point, 1944, but what really signifies this work is defined by who the viewer is, the denotations are a chair, a pedestal, grass, a room, the colour orange, Bacon was untrained, every thing is about personal inner torment, so when I look at this painting I relate to it, I read the connotations as an abused child I see the anger towards an abuser, I see the symbolism of the isolated figure bound up in its own torment, I see the significance of the armature as it acts as a cage to isolate, to persecute, to bully. As a gay man coming to terms with my own sexuality in the 1980's I see the symbols of Bacon's own sexual frustrations, the same isolation, fear and inner torment. This work is about human behavior, its about his own behavior and those who behave towards him, its about human nature. Francis Bacon said "artists are obsessed by life and by certain things that obsess them that they want to record. And they've tried to find systems and construct the cages in which these things can be caught" (Tate Liverpool, Francis Bacon Invisible Rooms, 2016, p2)  

Bibliography 

Books 

Archimbaud, Michel. (1993), Francis Bacon in Conversation with Michel Archimbaud, Phaidon Press Ltd. 

Debord, Guy. (1988) Comments on the Society of the Spectacle, Verso. 

Eliot, T.S. (2016) The Waste Land, Wisehouse Classics. 

Freeland, Cynthia. (2001) But Is It Art, Oxford University Press. 

Salkeld, Richard. (2014) Reading Photographs, Bloomsbury 

Sylvester, David. (1987) The Brutality of Fact interviews with Francis Bacon, Thames and Hudson. 

Williams, Raymond. (1988) Culture and Society Keywords, Fontana. 

Online 

Tate. Available from http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/blogs/work-week-three-studies-figures-base-crucifixion-francis-bacon(accessed 20/11/2017) 

Curson Smith, Richard (2017). Brush With Violence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgrO5za0lSY, BBC (accessed various times Sept 2017 - 4/12/2017) 

Exhibition Literature  

Redzisz, Kasia, Tate Liverpool, Francis Bacon Invisible Rooms. (2016)