In Francis Bacon’s portrait of Michel Leiris, we see the artist engaged with the very essence of the French surrealist.
The vortex-like motion, swirling around Leiris’s face, distorts the image, creating (and also reflecting) a dialogue between Bacon’s own style of painting, Leiris’s persona, and his role within the circle of intellectuals that revolved around the two figures.
The portrait is very intimate: indeed, Leiris was probably Bacon’s closest friend, and influenced his thinking substantially.