Study for a Portrait of Van Gogh IV
The painting Study for portrait of Van Gogh IV (1957) by Francis Bacon is one of six canvases the artist dedicated to the subject. All six paintings were inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s The Painter on the Road to Tarascon (1888), a painting that was destroyed during World War II. Bacon confirmed that he never saw that painting and instead he worked from a reproduction. The Painter on the Road to Tarascon is an unusual example of a self portrait, in that the figure is painted in a landscape setting. The figure is seen at a distance, but Van Gogh’s shows an extension of his personality through the dark shadow of the figure.
In Bacon’s versions, including Study for portrait of Van Gogh IV, the road tends to rise steeply, and the figure is much larger within the composition. Bacon also painted the figure in various poses and cleverly reinvented the element of the shadow in each painting. Through his interpretations of The Painter on the Road to Tarascon Bacon explored themes of isolation: ‘I’ve always liked early Van Gogh best, but that haunted figure on the road seemed just right at the time - like a phantom of the road, you could say.’ While Bacon engaged with themes of madness and isolation throughout his career, the series placed these concepts in the specific context of Van Gogh’s biography. The idea of the ‘haunted figure’ aligns with the overall perception of Van Gogh as a misunderstood and ultimately tragic genius. Bacon’s series engages with this narrative by presenting the artists as a lone traveller, a solitary figure separate from mainstream society. In Study for portrait of Van Gogh IV, the painter is a lone figure surrounded by dark shadows that give a sense of anguish and disquiet. By playing up the idea of ‘the haunted figure’ and emulating Van Gogh's style and technique, Bacon managed to fuse Van Gogh’s artistic identity with his own.
Most of the paintings were completed in the course of two weeks in 1957 as Bacon was rushing to fill an exhibition at the Hanover Gallery in London. Bacon completed the series during the course of the exhibition, adding two more paintings to the space after the opening. This series provoked a shift in Bacon’s style and technique: his brushwork became more expressive, his colors more lively and he used the impasto technique associated with Van Gogh’s style. This shift however is not solely attributed to Van Gogh, the use of color and its application was also influenced by the works of painter Chaim Soutine. Another formative experience in Bacon’s transition was his visit to Morocco - the fierce and bright light of Tangier influenced his departure from a previously sombre palette of famous works such as Painting (1946), Figure with Meat (1954) and the Head series (1949).
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