Francis Bacon

(British, 1909–1992)

Francis Bacon was an Irish artist and one of the most unique, engaging figurative painters to emerge during the post-war period. His grotesque imagery—contorted limbs, howling mouths agape, blood—served as method of exploring nihilism and death at a time when Europe had been repeatedly savaged by war. Inspired by both the Old Masters and Surrealism, Bacon produced several compositions based on the work of other painters, notably including his arresting Study After Velazquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953). In this iconic work, Bacon transforms Diego Velazquez’s classic portrait into a screaming, terrifying figure. “I feel ever so strongly that an artist must be nourished by his passions and his despairs,” he once said. “The feelings of desperation and unhappiness are more useful to an artist than the feeling of contentment, because desperation and unhappiness stretch your whole sensibility.” Born on October 28, 1909 in Dublin, Ireland, the self-taught artist moved to London to escape a hostile home life. Bacon became part of the local art scene in the British capital, which included his friends Lucian Freud, Isabel Lambert, and John Deakin. After the death of Bacon’s lover in 1972, his work became even more personalized, with a renewed focus on mortality. In 1963, a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York brought international prestige, which continued until his death on April 28, 1992 in Madrid, Spain. Today, his works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Hugh Lane in Dublin, and the Albertina in Vienna, among others.

Francis Bacon (3,467 results)

STUDY FOR THE HUMAN BODY , MAN TURNING ON..., 1973

After Francis Bacon

STUDY FOR THE HUMAN BODY , MAN TURNING ON..., 1973

Sale Date: August 21, 2022

Auction Closed

STUDY FOR THE HUMAN BODY , MAN TURNING ON..., 1973

After Francis Bacon

STUDY FOR THE HUMAN BODY , MAN TURNING ON..., 1973

Sale Date: August 10, 2022

Auction Closed

Figure at a Washbasin (from Requiem pour la..., 1976

Francis Bacon

Figure at a Washbasin (from Requiem pour la..., 1976

Sale Date: August 16, 2022

Auction Closed

“Triptyque 1983, droit

Francis Bacon

“Triptyque 1983, droit", 1983

Sale Date: July 20, 2022

Auction Closed

Triptyque 1983, gauche”, 1983

Francis Bacon

Triptyque 1983, gauche”, 1983

Sale Date: July 20, 2022

Auction Closed

BANK STATEMENT, CHEQUE BOOK/STUBBS

Francis Bacon

BANK STATEMENT, CHEQUE BOOK/STUBBS

Sale Date: July 25, 2022

Auction Closed

Seated figure, 1992

Francis Bacon

Seated figure, 1992

Sale Date: July 6, 2022

Auction Closed

TRIPTYCH, 1981

Francis Bacon

TRIPTYCH, 1981

Sale Date: June 29, 2022

Auction Closed

ŒDIPE ET LE SPHINX, 1984

Francis Bacon

ŒDIPE ET LE SPHINX, 1984

Sale Date: June 29, 2022

Auction Closed

LE MASQUE MORTUAIRE DE WILLIAM BLAKE, 1991

Francis Bacon

LE MASQUE MORTUAIRE DE WILLIAM BLAKE, 1991

Sale Date: June 29, 2022

Auction Closed

AFFICHE POUR L'EXPOSITION BACON AU GRAND..., 1972

Francis Bacon

AFFICHE POUR L'EXPOSITION BACON AU GRAND..., 1972

Sale Date: June 29, 2022

Auction Closed

TRIPTYCH 1987, 1989

Francis Bacon

TRIPTYCH 1987, 1989

Sale Date: June 29, 2022

Auction Closed

Trois études pour un autoportrait, 1990

Francis Bacon

Trois études pour un autoportrait, 1990

Sale Date: July 1, 2022

Auction Closed

Seated Figure, 1983

Francis Bacon

Seated Figure, 1983

Sale Date: June 29, 2022

Auction Closed

Triptych 1986-87 (Right panel), 1987

Francis Bacon

Triptych 1986-87 (Right panel), 1987

Sale Date: June 29, 2022

Auction Closed

Study for the portrait of Pope Innocent X..., 1989

Francis Bacon

Study for the portrait of Pope Innocent X..., 1989

Sale Date: June 29, 2022

Auction Closed

Study for Portrait of Lucian Freud, 1964

Francis Bacon

Study for Portrait of Lucian Freud, 1964

Sale Date: June 29, 2022

Auction Closed

Seated Man, 1957

Francis Bacon

Seated Man, 1957

Sale Date: June 28, 2022

Auction Closed

STUDY AFTER VELASQUEZ

Francis Bacon

STUDY AFTER VELASQUEZ

Sale Date: June 23, 2022

Auction Closed

Study from the Human Body, 1981

Francis Bacon

Study from the Human Body, 1981

Sale Date: June 23, 2022

Auction Closed

Figures in a Landscape (Q5), 1956

After Francis Bacon

Figures in a Landscape (Q5), 1956

Sale Date: June 15, 2022

Auction Closed

Portrait of George Dyer Riding a Bicycle (Q1B), 1966

After Francis Bacon

Portrait of George Dyer Riding a Bicycle (Q1B), 1966

Sale Date: June 15, 2022

Auction Closed

Study for Head of Lucian Freud (Q3), 1967

After Francis Bacon

Study for Head of Lucian Freud (Q3), 1967

Sale Date: June 15, 2022

Auction Closed

Lying Figure (Q2), 1969

After Francis Bacon

Lying Figure (Q2), 1969

Sale Date: June 15, 2022

Auction Closed

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