For Francis Bacon, life inspired art, and he drew on the themes and people from the world around him and the feelings that they evoked within him to create art that challenges and resonates with the viewer. Though he abstracted the figures of the subjects in many of his pieces, Bacon insisted he was a realist, commenting that ‘You can’t be more horrific than life itself.’ He himself was an abstraction of sorts, cultivating a duality of being that was described in his New York Times obituary as being both ‘ornery and unpredictable,’ yet ‘admired…for his generosity, wit and kindness.’
Autoportrait (after, Self-Portrait, 1973), 1977
Lying figure, 1969/2015
Figure writing reflected in a mirror, 1977
Study for a portrait of John Edwards, 1986
In memory of George Dyer
Portrait of Georges Dyer Riding a Bicycle, 1966/2015
Lying figure, 1969/2015
Three Studies for a Self-portrait, 1990
Study for Selfportrait, 1984
Study for Head of Lucian Freud, 1967 (Q3)
Francis Bacon- Study for Selfportrait, 1984
Study For Bullfight #1, 1971
Miroir de la Tauromachie, 1990
Seated Figure, 1977
Study for Portrait of Pope Innocent X after Velasquez, 1989
Study for Portrait of Pope Innocent X after Velasquez, 1989
