Three Studies of Henrietta Moraes, 1969

Henrietta Moraes
From the 1960s on, Bacon regularly painted portraits of his drinking cronies. Moraes said she had been the subject of more than twenty, including the 1969 triptych entitled Three Studies of Henrietta Moraes. Bacon met Henrietta Moraes at the Colony Room, the bar in Soho (London) where he was accustomed to meet his artistic and other friends from the 1960s on. In an interview, Moraes was later to say that she hung around the pub specially in the hope of being noticed by Bacon. And that is what happened. She attracted attention by her vitality, riotous laughter and unruly behaviour. She quickly became part of Bacon's circle, which also included the photographer John Deakin. He was commissioned by Bacon to conduct a number of photo sessions with Henrietta Moraes, including a series of her lying nude on a bed, in the same pose shown in the painting Untitled (Reclining Woman), of which he had already painted a number of versions.