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)

Trois études de dos d'homme (after, Three..., 1987

Francis Bacon

Trois études de dos d'homme (after, Three..., 1987

Sale Date: June 15, 2022

Auction Closed

Étude pour un portrait de John Edwards..., 1987

Francis Bacon

Étude pour un portrait de John Edwards..., 1987

Sale Date: June 15, 2022

Auction Closed

Autoportrait (after, Self-Portrait, 1973)..., 1977

Francis Bacon

Autoportrait (after, Self-Portrait, 1973)..., 1977

Sale Date: June 15, 2022

Auction Closed

L'homme au lavabo (after, Figure at a..., 1977–1978

Francis Bacon

L'homme au lavabo (after, Figure at a..., 1977–1978

Sale Date: June 15, 2022

Auction Closed

Œdipe et le Sphinx d'après Ingres (after,..., 1984

Francis Bacon

Œdipe et le Sphinx d'après Ingres (after,..., 1984

Sale Date: June 14, 2022

Auction Closed

Seated Figure (after, Study for a Portrait..., 1983

Francis Bacon

Seated Figure (after, Study for a Portrait..., 1983

Sale Date: June 14, 2022

Auction Closed

Trois études pour un autoportrait (after,..., 1990

Francis Bacon

Trois études pour un autoportrait (after,..., 1990

Sale Date: June 14, 2022

Auction Closed

Deuxième version du triptyque 1944 (Large..., 1989

Francis Bacon

Deuxième version du triptyque 1944 (Large..., 1989

Sale Date: June 14, 2022

Auction Closed

after. Lying Figure (Q2B)

Francis Bacon

after. Lying Figure (Q2B)

Sale Date: June 22, 2022

Auction Closed

after. Portrait of George Dyer Riding a Bicycle...

Francis Bacon

after. Portrait of George Dyer Riding a Bicycle...

Sale Date: June 22, 2022

Auction Closed

Portrait de Michel Leiris, 1990

Francis Bacon

Portrait de Michel Leiris, 1990

Sale Date: June 30, 2022

Auction Closed

Œdipe et le Sphinx d'après Ingres, 1984

Francis Bacon

Œdipe et le Sphinx d'après Ingres, 1984

Sale Date: June 30, 2022

Auction Closed

Étude pour un portrait du Pape Innocent X..., 1989

Francis Bacon

Étude pour un portrait du Pape Innocent X..., 1989

Sale Date: June 30, 2022

Auction Closed

Portrait de Peter Beard, 1976

Francis Bacon

Portrait de Peter Beard, 1976

Sale Date: June 30, 2022

Auction Closed

Seated Figure, 1992

Francis Bacon

Seated Figure, 1992

Sale Date: June 30, 2022

Auction Closed

The Human Body (Study For The Metropolitan..., 1975

Francis Bacon

The Human Body (Study For The Metropolitan..., 1975

Sale Date: June 8, 2022

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Second Version of Triptych 1944, 1989

Francis Bacon

Second Version of Triptych 1944, 1989

Sale Date: May 26, 2022

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Tentoonstellingsposter Galerie Maeght Lelong , 1984

Francis Bacon

Tentoonstellingsposter Galerie Maeght Lelong , 1984

Sale Date: May 31, 2022

Auction Closed

Man Writing Reflected in a Mirror - Homme..., 1977

Francis Bacon

Man Writing Reflected in a Mirror - Homme..., 1977

Sale Date: June 16, 2022

Auction Closed

Trois études pour un autoportrait, 1991

Francis Bacon

Trois études pour un autoportrait, 1991

Sale Date: May 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Portrait de Michel Leiris, 1990

Francis Bacon

Portrait de Michel Leiris, 1990

Sale Date: May 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Autoportrait N°2, 1977

Francis Bacon

Autoportrait N°2, 1977

Sale Date: May 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Triptyque Août 1972, 1972–1979

Francis Bacon

Triptyque Août 1972, 1972–1979

Sale Date: May 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Study for a Portrait of John Edwards,, 1987

Francis Bacon

Study for a Portrait of John Edwards,, 1987

Sale Date: May 15, 2022

Auction Closed

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