Francis Bacon – Study for Self-Portrait 1984

Œdipe et le Sphinx d'après Ingres 

Artist: Francis Bacon
Title: Study for Self-Portrait
Year: 1984
Medium: Offset lithograph in colours on wove paper
Image Size: 816 × 609 mm (32 1/8 × 24 in)
Sheet Size: 937 × 647 mm (36 7/8 × 25 1/2 in)
Edition: 182 + some Artist's Proofs — signed in pencil and numbered
Publisher: Marlborough Gallery, New York
Reference: Sabatier 35
Type: Large-format limited edition offset lithograph

Description

Study for Self-Portrait (1984) is one of the most powerful and historically significant prints in Francis Bacon's graphic catalogue — a large-format offset lithograph published by Marlborough Gallery, New York, in which Bacon turns his unsparing observational intensity upon himself. The self-portrait was for Bacon not a genre of vanity or autobiography but one of the most demanding forms of visual investigation available: the impossibility of seeing oneself clearly, the body's resistance to being fixed in a single image, the way consciousness distorts its own reflection — all of the philosophical problems that animate his figurative practice at large are concentrated and intensified when the subject is the artist's own face.

Bacon's self-portraits — produced throughout his career in painting, drawing, and now lithograph — deploy the same formal strategies as his portraits of others: the figure compressed into a shallow space, the flesh rendered with extraordinary physicality, the features at once recognisable and subjected to the distortion that transforms likeness into something more essential than resemblance. The offset lithograph medium — which reproduces the chromatic range and tonal complexity of the original with the flat, saturated colour that Bacon's painterly language demands — allows the image to operate at a scale (816 × 609 mm image area) that approaches the physical authority of a canvas.

Published by Marlborough Gallery, New York — the gallery that represented Bacon throughout the most celebrated period of his career and oversaw his most significant print publications — in an edition of 182 plus some artist's proofs. Each impression is signed in pencil and numbered by the artist. Referenced as Sabatier 35 in the authoritative catalogue of Bacon's prints — a work that appears regularly at the major auction houses and consistently achieves strong results among collectors of postwar British and European art.

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FAQ

Is this an original Francis Bacon print?
Yes — an original offset lithograph in colours on wove paper, signed in pencil and numbered by the artist from an edition of 182 plus some artist's proofs.

What is the edition size?
182 impressions plus some artist's proofs — signed and numbered by Bacon in pencil.

Is this work referenced in the catalogue raisonné?
Yes — listed as Sabatier 35 in the authoritative reference for Bacon's prints.

Who published this work?
Marlborough Gallery, New York — the gallery that represented Bacon throughout the most celebrated period of his career and was responsible for his most significant print publications.

What makes Bacon's self-portraits significant?
Bacon treated the self-portrait not as autobiography but as one of the most demanding forms of visual investigation — the impossibility of self-knowledge, the distortion that consciousness imposes on its own reflection, concentrated into a single image. His self-portraits are among the most psychologically intense works in the history of the genre.

Is the work framed?
Please contact us for framing options.

Do you ship internationally?
Yes — worldwide, with museum-grade flat packaging for large-format works on paper, full insurance, and shipment tracking.

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