Francis Bacon (1909-1992) - After Picasso, 'La Danse', 1933, Certificaat

Francis Bacon – After Picasso, 'La Danse', 1933
Signed stone-lithography, numbered 90/250 — WITH CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY

A rare collector's item, based on one of the most fascinating works from Francis Bacon's early oeuvre. Including an official certificate of authenticity.

The story:

This work was originally known as Crucifixion. On the back of a photo in the Marlborough Fine Art archive it is noted: "Francis Bacon states the work was inspired by Picasso 'La Danse' and is not a crucifixion." Yet the composition, essentially, remains a triple danse mortelle (a triple dance of death).

The work is inspired by Picasso's The Three Dancers (1925, Tate). While Picasso was working on it, his friend Ramon Pichot died — the shadowy figure on the right in Picasso's painting, whom Bacon used as a reference, is based on him. Art historian Martin Harrison suggests that Tate's later purchase of The Three Dancers in 1965 may have prompted Bacon's title change, more than thirty years after the creation of his own work.

Reference: Martin Harrison, Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné (2016), p. 122. More info: francis-bacon.com

Technique: Stone-signed lithography
Dimensions: 50 x 65 cm
Edition: nr90 of 250, Handmade Privilege Cotton
Authenticity: Certificate of authenticity included + embossing The Shakespeare Arts
Numbering: With pencil on the front

Each copy is supplied with a certificate, which together with the embossing and hand-numbering guarantees the authenticity and provenance of this limited print.