Art today is from British painter, Francis Bacon (1909-1992), known for his portraits and figures. I got to know his work circa 1979 when I took a class on the history of modern art. A paper I wrote then, handwritten in my wordy, clunky prose, survives. So, naturally, I typed out a chunk and started looking for a poem.
Isabel Nicholas, aka Rawsthorne, (1912–1992), was also a painter, as well as a designer and artist’s model.
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published
portrait of a late paper
Study Isabel Rawsthorne,
her features violently distorted
by sweeps, smears, smudges,
the left eye a shadowed crater;
the stroke of brush sprays beyond
nose and mouth,
elliptical Bacon the subject.
A frightening creature, and yet,
a very conscious, penetrating, calm, sideways glance:
her ‘for the moment intelligible but not whole’ self
by no means absent,
thus vital.
Another poem featuring Francis Bacon from two years ago.
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