Marching Figures (Small)

Francis Bacon’s ‘Marching Figures’ (1952) is an enigmatic painting that has consistently resisted scholarly interpretations. In its lower section, a crowd of simplified human figures, represented with quick black and white brushstrokes, marches underneath a transparent cubic structure. On top of the spaceframe is a faceless, half-formed being, perhaps a polar bear or a monkey, surrounded by thick black and blue lines.