The artwork titled “Three Studies for a Crucifixion,” created by Francis Bacon in 1962, is an exemplification of the Expressionism art movement. Rendered in oil, sand, and canvas, the triptych measures 198 x 144 cm and is categorized as a religious painting. It currently resides at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, NY, US.
The artwork comprises three panels, each depicting visceral and distorted human forms. The background in each segment is a stark, deep red, contributing to an atmosphere of intense emotion and discomfort. In the left panel, two figures stand in a morbidly distorted form with visible anguish. The central panel shows a semi-abstract figure lying on a bed, evoking grotesque suffering and physical disarray. The third panel features a torsion of skeletal figures intertwined in a seemingly agonizing meld of forms. The combination of colors, the textural use of sand, and the contorted, almost visceral human figures encapsulate a sense of existential despair and profound suffering, resonating deeply with the religious theme of crucifixion.