Abstract

In his work entitled, Francis Bacon: Logique de la sensation , Gilles Deleuze develops his theory of sensation by considering works by the painter Francis Bacon. The concept of the "haptic " plays an important role in Deleuze's analysis of Bacon's paintings. The concept derives from the word "haptic as discussed by Alois Riegl. Deleuze captures Riegl's idea of the haptic as opposed to the optic, and extends it in a new direction. The main purpose of my study is to clarify the difference between the ideas of Riegl and Deleuze, and to achieve better understanding of Deleuze's theory of sensation by paying special attention to the haptic. In this paper, I focus on Deleuze's definition of the haptic through examining its use in his works Mille plateaux and the above-mentioned. Then I discuss the issues of color, the action of the hand, and the "meat," three things which Deleuze saw as crucial to Bacon's technique of painting. In my view, the haptic should be understood in relation to contingency and chance.