Francis bacon was born in dublin, ireland, on october 28, 1909, to english parents. Nov 19, 2015 francis bacons painting 1946, which is currently on view in the exhibition solider, spectre, shaman. Bacon translates their apparent agony and devotion into three hybrid beasts akin to the eumenides, vengeful furies of greek myth, according to the tate. I would like my pictures to look as if a human being had passed between them, like a snail leaving its trail of the human presence. Francis bacon was a dominant figure of postwar art, and his canvases remain unmistakable for their contorted emotion and visceral physicality. Find an indepth biography, exhibitions, original artworks for sale, the latest news, and sold auction prices. Small paper break in the upper left corner of the image. Artnet news, october 28, 2015 francis bacon, selfportrait 1971. Borrowing inspiration from surrealism, film, photography, and the old masters, he forged a distinctive style that made him one of the most widely recognized exponents of figurative art in the 1940s and 1950s.
A delicious slice of bacons oeuvre is now on view at the gagosian gallery in new york though you will have to hurry, as the last day of the exhibit is tomorrow. Guggenheim museum library and archives contributor solomon r. The layered images of this enigmatic painting blend into each other, giving it a dreamlike or nightmarish quality. Francis bacon british post war artist for sale 5 listings. See more ideas about bacon, francis bacon and artist. This is the third exhibit of the artist at gagosian since 2006, and this one francis bacon. Two nights before the opening of bacons retrospective at the grand palais, paris in 1971, george dyer, who had accompanied his friend to the event, died from a drug and alcohol overdose in his hotel room. The francis bacon shop the official shop of the estate. Francis bacon 28 october 1909 28 april 1992 was an irishborn british figurative painter known for his bold, grotesque, emotionally charged, raw imagery. Artist francis bacons conflicted and creative life. Self portrait, 1978 this piece is not the only a selfportrait by francis bacon, but a very significant artwork since it was created during the recovery from depression caused by the death of the artists lover george dyer in 1971. Feb 23, 2016 francis bacon, monaco and french culture is at the grimaldi forum monaco 2 july4 september. Here is englands most celebrated recently dead painter, critic robert hughes cheekily wrote in an essay on francis bacon. If you like francis bacon, youll love these artists.
If you love francis bacon, youll love these artists who share a penchant for abstracted subjects, luscious markmaking, and surrealist figuration. The materials and techniques used in the paintings of. Make offer ask question add to watchlist follow artist francis bacon study for head of lucian freud, 2015 q3 limited edition print. Bacon s work was included in a group exhibition in london at the mayor gallery in 1933. Francis bacon prints and multiples 24 for sale at 1stdibs. In the foreground, a welldressed man under an umbrella sits in a circular enclosure which might be decorated with more bones and another carcass. The figure and the second world war, came into momas paintings conservation studio in early 2015, after we received a request for an xray the expectation was that an xray might provide material evidence to support bacons recollections about the early stages of the paintings. The work three studies for figures at the base of a crucifixion 1944, tate established him as an artist of international importance. Francis bacon and the crucifixion the francis bacon.
Indeed, it is known that bacon was the inspiration for some of leiri. Francis bacon 28 october 1909 28 april 1992 was an irishborn british figurative painter known for his emotionally charged raw imagery and fixation on personal motifs. It will then travel to the guggenheim museum in bilbao 30 september8 january. Jul 05, 2019 scroll down, and find out what are the most expensive francis bacon paintings at auctions. In 1929 francis bacon established himself as a furniture designer and interior designer. Francis bacon 19091992 contents introduction biography most expensive paintings by francis bacon. In this 1985 documentary on the artist, made while he was still very much alive, francis bacon talks through one of his most iconic works and explains how he makes paintings. Seated figure is a powerful example from francis bacons most celebrated series of works.
The english artist francis bacon 19091992 was one of the most powerful and original figure painters in contemporary art, particularly noted for the obsessive intensity of his work. If you like francis bacon, youll love these artists art. One of francis bacon s classic triptychs, three studies for figures at the base of a crucifixion examines, in detail, the secondary characters depicted at the foot of the cross in religious paintings. His grotesque imagerycontorted limbs, howling mouths agape, bloodserved as method of exploring nihilism and death at a time when europe had been repeatedly savaged by war. His bestknown works of the 1960s included a series of paintings inspired by the british mass murderer john christie. David lynch has called legendary british artist francis bacon october 28, 1909april 28, 1992 the main guy, the number one kinda hero painter. Although bacon never attended art school, he began to draw and work in watercolor around 1926. Catalog of an exhibition held october 18, 1963january 12, 1964 at the solomon r. Towards the end of 1963 a new man entered bacons life, george dyer, who became a recurrent subject of bacons paintings in the 1960s. Artist francis bacons conflicted and creative life, illustrated. See available prints and multiples, paintings, and works on paper for sale and learn about the artist. Peter schjeldahl for the new yorker true, it would seem theres no defense needed for an artist who has had more than a halfdozen major retrospectives, and whose three studies of lucien freud holds the record for the. British painter, born in ireland of english parents. Francis bacon 28 october 1909 28 april 1992 was an irishborn british figurative painter known for his emotionally charged raw imagery.
He produced series of images of popes, crucifixions and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical cages, set against flat, nondescript backgrounds. Inaugurated by the socalled screaming popes of the 1950s, bacons renowned series of papal portraits were the works responsible for establishing the artists reputation. Bacon spent considerable periods of time in paris during the 1970s, and took a studio there in 1975. Francis bacon, irish expressionist artist, surrealist. Painter dublinborn bacon left ireland at the age of sixteen, settling permanently in england in 1928. Download premium images you cant get anywhere else. Dyer was found dead from a drink and barbiturate overdose.
Scholars have noted that in his canvases from the 1950s, monkeys and men often closely resemble one another. He is best known for his depictions of popes, crucifixions and portraits of close friends. In the late 1920s he lived in berlin and then paris where he was powerfully affected by an exhibition of picassos. Bacons work was included in a group exhibition in london at the mayor gallery in 1933. Francis bacon produced some of the most iconic images of wounded and traumatized humanity in postwar art. Bacon concentrated his energies on portraiture, often. Photography became an indispensable means to bacons expressive ends, mainly through john deakins photographs of dyer and other close friends. Observations are made of the artists technique and details are compiled of the supports used. Francis bacon, painter, is dead at 82 francis bacon, louise bourgeois and franz. Francis bacon was created by lucian freud in expressionism style. Raised with three siblings, francis bacon is a descendant of the sixteenthcentury statesman and essayist of the same name. In the hugh lane gallery, on parnell square in dublin, michael peppiatt is reading from his new memoir, francis bacon in your blood, which details his 30year friendship with the painter. They seem to unearth, in their blurred limbs and wideopen mouths, our most primal urges. Late paintings concentrates on the last twenty years of bacons career.
The figure and the second world war, came into momas paintings conservation studio in early 2015, after we received a request for an xray. He has also been hailed as the greatest british painter since turner. Francis bacon was the loudest, rudest, drunkest, most soughtafter british artist of the 20th century. The most expensive francis bacon paintings at auctions. Find more prominent pieces of portrait at best visual art database. Francis bacon a collateral descendant of the great elizabethan statesman and essayist of the same name was born in dublin on october 28, 1909, to english parents. The artist francis bacon dublin, 1909 madrid, 1992. A series of paintings records the true strength of bacons grief. Apr 24, 2020 as his friend and mentor francis bacon, whose portrait he painted in 1972, whiteley abandoned his early abstract style in favour of a more figurative expressionism. Francis bacon, monaco and french culture is at the grimaldi forum monaco 2 july4 september. This silent figure painted in 1960 and cloaked in a rich bloodred crimson is a work that stands as an almost unique example from. Francis bacon, the artist, paints provocative and disturbing images that carry a raw sense of anxiety and alienation. His intense, grotesque style portrayed animallike forms that veered on the alien, as well as distressed human figures often screaming in pain or horror.
Indeed, bacons paintings pulsate with the dual energy of human suffering and ecstasy. Francis bacon was an irish artist and one of the most unique, engaging figurative painters to emerge during the postwar period. Francis bacon 1909 1992 united kingdom is an artist born in 1909 the oldest auction result ever registered on the website for an artwork by this artist is a painting sold in 1984, at christies, and the most recent auction result is a printmultiple sold in 2020. The official facebook community of the estate of francis bacon and our official shop. Francis bacon artist stock pictures, royaltyfree photos. He left home in 1925 at the age of 16 and moved to london, where he worked for a time as an interior decorator.
They reflect that existential fear, loathing and incomprehension at the atrocities of the holocaust that came to light at the end of world war two. Twentyfive years after his death, his canvases regularly exceed. Though small in size, there is a wealth of materials presented portions of the many interesting interviews conducted with him over the years, a great amount of documentary photographs of bacon, his works, his studio and his friends, including many color reproductions of his paintings. Eight years after his death, francis bacon, perhaps englands most acclaimed painter since turner, is at the center of a major scandal. Aug 31, 2014 in defense of artist, francis bacon francis bacon has long been my least favorite great painter of the twentieth century. From the top, the outstretched wings of a bird skeleton seem to be perched upon a hanging carcass, the latter motif influenced, like bacons crucifixion from 1933, by rembrandt.
As an artist that emerged in the aftermath of world war ii, francis bacon explored feelings like pain, fear, and anger in his paintings. Jun 08, 2015 during the 1950s and 60s, bacon made over 45 pope paintings, each based on diego velazquezs 1650 work, portrait of pope innocent x. Bacon used imagery from sources as diverse as velasquez, van gogh, the cinema, old snapshots and illustrations of disease. Francis bacons paintings have been called sick and corrupt. Find highquality francis bacon artist stock photos and editorial news pictures from getty images. Best known for his depictions of popes, crucifixions and portraits of close friends, his abstracted figures are typically isolated in geometrical cages which give them. The materials and techniques used in the paintings of francis. Like lynchs films, bacons paintings compel the way a scene from. He left home at the age of sixteen and spent two years in berlin, germany, and paris, france. For bacon, hauser notes, painting was a struggle that relied in large part on chance he believed successful paintings open up the valves of sensation and bypass the intellect to penetrate the nervous system directly, which requires an active surrender to the uncertainty of the painting process. Francis bacon, irish expressionist artist, surrealist painter. Category 1970s abstract francis bacon prints and multiples. Recording reveals how francis bacon was rushed to finish paintings pictures at 1957 exhibition in london were still wet and stained attendees clothes after they leaned against them published.
Francis bacon biography life, parents, name, death, book. Francis bacons painting 1946, which is currently on view in the exhibition solider, spectre, shaman. Mar 29, 2020 francis bacon was the loudest, rudest, drunkest, most soughtafter british artist of the 20th century. The francis bacon shop the official shop of the estate of. Francis bacon has long been my least favorite great painter of the twentieth century. This paperback book on the great british painter francis bacon is invaluable. Recordbreaking artist in november 20, bacons lifesize triptych three studies of lucian freud 1969 was sold at christies postwar and contemporary sale, in new york, for a.
First edition lithograph cover for derriere le miroir dlm no. John edwards, a former pub manager who is the painters. Francis bacon was was born in dublin on 28 october 1909, the second of five. Francis bacon was born in october 28 1909, in dublin.
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