A mist of fine dots spreads across the pale face, with its distinctive moon shape. Scimitar eyebrows rise above a lowered gaze. The half-open mouth is kissably soft, and the hair still lies in a boyish fringe. Francis Bacon is 78 years old, but has made himself 25 once more. You would recognise him any time, anywhere.
This strange and captivating self-portrait hangs at the entrance to Francis Bacon: Human Presence at the National Portrait Gallery – a peculiarly misleading start to the “first exhibition in nearly 20 years to focus on his portraits”. What else did Bacon paint but human animals, more or less? It seems an odd exercise to single out these 55 paintings as portraits, not least because the one recognisable face is Bacon’s own.
