Seeing-as: The Modality of Looking in Bacon's Portraiture

Arya, Rina

Abstract

This article examines Francis Bacon{\textquoteright}s treatment of portraits of sitters who were close to him–a closeness that is seen in the intimacy of their portrayals. Bacon cut through the surface to capture the energy of a person. This study articulates Bacon{\textquoteright}s pictorial problem by arguing for a particular way of {\textquoteleft}seeing-as{\textquoteright}, to draw on Ludwig Wittgenstein{\textquoteright}s philosophy, that involves the {\textquoteleft}noticing of an aspect{\textquoteright} or {\textquoteleft}dawning of an aspect{\textquoteright}. Interpreting Bacon{\textquoteright}s portraits by using Wittgenstein{\textquoteright}s understanding of perceptual concepts and the phenomenological perspective of the immediacy of experience presents a novel way of looking at his work.

Citation

Arya, R. (2020). Seeing-as: The Modality of Looking in Bacon's Portraiture. Visual culture in Britain, 21(3), 296--309. https://doi.org/10.1080/14714787.2020.1860340

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jan 8, 2021
• Publication Date: 2020-01
• Deposit Date: May 4, 2024
• Journal: Visual Culture in Britain
• Print ISSN: 1471-4787
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 296--309
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14714787.2020.1860340
• Keywords: Francis Bacon; Phenomenology; Portraits; The figural
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4629505