Three Studies of Muriel Belcher, 1966, 35.5 x 30.5cm. Private collection

Three Studies for a portrait of Muriel Belcher is an oil on canvas triptych painting by the Irish born English artist Francis Bacon, completed in 1966. It portrays Muriel Belcher, described by musician George Melly as a "benevolent witch",[1] and the charismatic founder and proprietress of The Colony Room Club, a private drinking house at 41 Dean Street, Soho, London, where Bacon was a regular throughout the late 1940s to late 1960s.[2]

The two became friends soon after she opened the club in 1948, and Bacon helped her cultivate its reputation as a seedy but convivial meeting place for artists, writers, musicians, homosexuals and bohemians.[3] At its height, regular patrons included Lucian Freud, Jeffrey Bernard, John Deakin and Henrietta Moraes.[4]

Belcher died in 1979 in her early 70s.[1] Having been exhibited at Tate, London, and Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris,[5] the triptych is currently was as of 2022 in a private collection.

## Contents

* 1 Model
* 2 Description
* 3 References
* 4 Sources
* 5 External links

## Model[edit]

Both Belcher and Bacon shared a sharp, dry and often and caustic wit, which bordered on sarcastic and aloof disdain.[4] They cultivated an at times intimidating atmosphere,[1] and she became the subject of several of his paintings, including Seated Woman (Portrait of Muriel Belcher), which in sold 2007 for €13.7 million.[6] Bacon did not paint from life sittings, and it is likely that he painted this triptych from photographs taken by Deakin.

## Description[edit]

Each of the panels are set against flat, dark and nondescript backgrounds. The portraits captures Belcher's personality, expressed through her flowing hair, arched eyebrows and prominent nose. From left to right, the panels show her in half profile looking to the viewer's right, in full profile, and in half profile looking to our left, in a sequence that evokes a sense of movement akin to the photographs of Eadweard Muybridge or police mug shots.[7] Her facial features are heavily distorted in each, an effect achieved by long and wider brush strokes. Bacon uses contrasting colour pallets to change the tone and the mood of the panels; the fiery and aggressive reds of the center portrait contrast with the calmer blue-grey tones of the right hand image.[4] The triptych follows in a pattern of panels painted of close friends in a similar distorted style during the late 1960s and very early 1970s.[7]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c Wheatcroft, Geoffrey. "Den Mother to the Louche and Famous. The New York Times, 5 June 2009. Retrieved 13 October 2018
2. ^ Ficacci (2003), p. 93
3. ^ Muir (2002), p. 30
4. ^ a b c Farr et al. (1999), p. 140
5. ^ "Three Studies of Muriel Belcher". Estate of Francis Bacon. Retrieved 13 October 2018
6. ^ Bacon painting sells for 13.7 million euros". ABC News, 3 December 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2018
7. ^ a b Ficacci (2003), p. 72

## Sources[edit]

* Muir, Robin. A Maverick Eye: The Street Photography of John Deakin. London: Thames & Hudson, 2002. ISBN 0-500-54244-9
* Farr, Dennis; Peppiatt, Michael; Yard, Sally. Francis Bacon: A Retrospective. New York: Harry N Abrams, 1999. ISBN 0-8109-2925-2
* Ficacci, Luigi. Francis Bacon: 1909–1992. London: Taschen, 2003. ISBN 978-3-8228-2198-5

## External links[edit]

* The Colony Room Club 1965 \- 1965 footage of the Colony Room Club in 1965 including shots of Muriel Belcher

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Francis Bacon (artist)

Crucifixions|

* Crucifixion (1933)
* Crucifixion with Skull (1933)
* Wound for a Crucifixion (1933)
* Fragment of a Crucifixion (1950)

Figures|

* Figure in a landscape (1945)
* Painting 1946 (1946)
* Study for Crouching Nude (1952)
* Two Figures (1953) (1953)
* Three Studies from the Human Head (1953)
* Study for Portrait II (After the Life Mask of William Blake) (1955)
* Version No. 2 of Lying Figure with Hypodermic Syringe (1968)
* Study for a Bullfight, Number 2 (1969)
* Three Studies of the Male Back (1970)
* Blood on the Floor (Painting, 1986) (1986)

Head series|

* Head I (1949)
* Head II (1949)
* Head III (1949)
* Head IV (1949)
* Head V (1949)
* Head VI (1949)

Popes|

* Study after Velázquez (1950)
* Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953)
* Figure with Meat (1954)
* Untitled (Pope) (c. 1954)
* Study from Innocent X (1962)
* Study of Red Pope 1962. 2nd version 1971 (1971)

Triptychs|

* Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1944)
* Three Studies for a Crucifixion (1962)
* Three Figures in a Room (1964)
* Crucifixion (1965)
* Triptych Inspired by T.S. Eliot's Poem "Sweeney Agonistes" (1967)
* Two Figures Lying on a Bed with Attendants (1968)
* Triptych, 1976 (1976)
* Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus (1981)
* Second Version of Triptych 1944 (1988)

Black Triptychs|

* Triptych–August 1972 (1972)
* Triptych, May–June 1973 (1973)

Male portraits|

* Three Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer (1964)
* Portrait of George Dyer Talking (1966)
* Three Studies for George Dyer (1967)
* Portrait of George Dyer and Lucian Freud (1967)
* Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969)
* Portrait of Michel Leiris, 1976 (1976)

Female portraits|

* Three Studies for a Portrait of Henrietta Moraes (1963)
* Three Studies of Muriel Belcher (1966)
* Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne Standing in a Street in Soho (1967)

Self-portraits|

* Three Studies for a Self Portrait (1973)
* Self-portrait (1973)
* Three Studies for a Self-Portrait (1979)
* Three Studies for a Self Portrait (1985–86)

Summary articles|

* List of paintings by Francis Bacon
* List of large triptychs by Francis Bacon
* Triptychs by Francis Bacon
* The Black Triptychs
* Influences on Francis Bacon

Related|

* Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation (1981 book)
* Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998 film)

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