Triptych, May–June 1973

Painted in three parts, this haunting work by Francis Bacon shows a single man caught in three moments of collapse. Against inky black backgrounds framed by dark red walls, the figures twist and blur, their bodies smeared as if dissolving in real time. A bare lightbulb dangles in the middle panel, throwing a harsh and lonely light over the whole scene. Bacon called it his "black triptych," and the name fits the mood of grief that hangs over every inch of it.

The story behind the painting is a tragic one. Bacon made it in memory of George Dyer, his lover, who died of an overdose in a Paris hotel bathroom in 1971, only hours before the opening of Bacon's major exhibition in the city. The two outer panels place Dyer where he spent his last moments, slumped over a toilet and hunched at a sink. Bacon carried the weight of that night for years, and he poured his guilt and sorrow into the canvas rather than looking away from it.

Bacon painted in a manner that was entirely his own, refusing both pretty realism and pure abstraction to chase something rawer instead. He once said he wanted to paint the scream more than the horror behind it. This is not a comforting picture, and it was never meant to be. It stands as one artist's honest attempt to face death head on and put unbearable feeling into paint.