Francis Bacon

Study after a life mask of William Blake

1991

Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1909, prominent British painter and printmaker Francis Bacon created controversial art until his death in 1992.

Despite the fact that he did not receive formal training, Bacon gained instantaneous recognition in 1945 after an exhibition at Lefevre Gallery in London that included his 1944 triptych Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. Bacon's figures can be described as distorted, fleshy masses in anguish; these shocking and unsettling images are his representation of the evils and the devastation of the human condition. Bacon's oil paintings simultaneously repel and intrigue the viewer with their bold, grotesque figures. This paradox remains consistent with his prints, which he based on a selection of 35 of his own paintings dating from 1965 to 1991. Bacon worked with skilled printers to create his relatively small body of etchings and lithographs that total only about 40 editions.

In 2008 and 2009, a major retrospective of Bacon's paintings traveled to the Tate Britain, London, England (September 11, 2008–January 4, 2009), to the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain (February 3–April 19, 2009) and to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (May 20–August 16, 2009). Bacon's works are permanently part of public collections around the world, including the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway; Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham, England; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and elsewhere.

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(Biography provided by Marlborough Graphics)