In Memory of George Dyer – Q6B

Francis Bacon’s triptych ‘In Memory of George Dyer’ (1971) responds to the passing of his lover who died of a drug overdose in the same year. The first of many portraits related to Dyer’s death, this work was transformed into an exquisite series of diasec‐mounted giclée prints on aluminium.

Over a flat pastel pink background Bacon honours the likeness of his lover through symbolic renditions of his signature malleable, grotesque human bodies. His warm romantic and artistic partnership with Dyer is rendered in the left panel through the two fleshy entities in a loving embrace; the middle panel through a solitary shadow isolated within a deconstructed architectural setting; and the right panel with Dyer both as artistic subject and as dead body, each mirroring the other in a guilt‐ridden representation.

This artwork constitutes an attempt to cope with love and loss, a testimony of Bacon’s continued struggle with a relatable sense of shame and remorse. His mourning emerges through fluctuations of darkness and light, of shadows and forms, which manifest his guilt when confronted with the tragedy of death. A testament to human vulnerability and fragility, ‘In Memory of George Dyer’ deals with the consequences of trauma and pain.