In Francis Bacon’s self-portraits, the face becomes a battleground. Ahead of The London Sales, Sotheby’s Tom Eddison investigates how Bacon’s series self-portraits acted as tools for the artist to explore the depths of his own identity. Bacon’s 1972 self-portrait is a masterwork from the most inwardly scrutinizing year of his life. Following the death of his partner, George Dyer, Bacon produced nine self-portraits in this smaller format. The painting shown here is one of the most striking iterat