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)

Triptych (In Memory of George Dyer),..., 1974

After Francis Bacon

Triptych (In Memory of George Dyer),..., 1974

Sale Date: August 14, 2023

Auction Closed

retroxpective exhibition poster, Grand..., 1971

Francis Bacon

retroxpective exhibition poster, Grand..., 1971

Sale Date: August 23, 2023

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Second Version of Painting 1946, 1971

Francis Bacon

Second Version of Painting 1946, 1971

Sale Date: August 17, 2023

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Exhibition poster. Marlborough Zürich, 1975

Francis Bacon

Exhibition poster. Marlborough Zürich, 1975

Sale Date: July 10, 2023

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Three Studies for a Self-Portrait, 1990

Francis Bacon

Three Studies for a Self-Portrait, 1990

Sale Date: June 29, 2023

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Central plate, from Deuxième version du..., 1988

Francis Bacon

Central plate, from Deuxième version du..., 1988

Sale Date: June 27, 2023

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Second Version, Triptych 1944, 1989

Francis Bacon

Second Version, Triptych 1944, 1989

Sale Date: June 27, 2023

Auction Closed

Figure Writing Reflected in a Mirror, 1977

Francis Bacon

Figure Writing Reflected in a Mirror, 1977

Sale Date: June 27, 2023

Auction Closed

Head of Woman, 1960

Francis Bacon

Head of Woman, 1960

Sale Date: June 21, 2023

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The Oresteia by Aeschylus, 1981

Francis Bacon

The Oresteia by Aeschylus, 1981

Sale Date: June 20, 2023

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TROIS ETUDES POUR UN AUTOPORTRAIT, 1981

Francis Bacon

TROIS ETUDES POUR UN AUTOPORTRAIT, 1981

Sale Date: June 6, 2023

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LOGIQUE DE LA SENSATION, 1981

Francis Bacon

LOGIQUE DE LA SENSATION, 1981

Sale Date: June 6, 2023

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ETUDE DU CORPS HUMAIN D'APRES INGRES, 1984

Francis Bacon

ETUDE DU CORPS HUMAIN D'APRES INGRES, 1984

Sale Date: June 6, 2023

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

Francis Bacon

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

Sale Date: June 7, 2023

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“Oedipus and the Sphinx after Ingres”, 1984

Francis Bacon

“Oedipus and the Sphinx after Ingres”, 1984

Sale Date: June 13, 2023

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Seated figure, 1983

Francis Bacon

Seated figure, 1983

Sale Date: June 7, 2023

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Metropolitan Museum of Art., 1975

Francis Bacon

Metropolitan Museum of Art., 1975

Sale Date: June 8, 2023

Auction Closed

Triptych., 1981

Francis Bacon

Triptych., 1981

Sale Date: June 8, 2023

Auction Closed

Metropolitan Museum of Art., 1975

Francis Bacon

Metropolitan Museum of Art., 1975

Sale Date: June 8, 2023

Auction Closed

Œdipe et le Sphinx d'après Ingres, 1984

Francis Bacon

Œdipe et le Sphinx d'après Ingres, 1984

Sale Date: June 1, 2023

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Study for a Portrait of John Edwards, 1988

After Francis Bacon

Study for a Portrait of John Edwards, 1988

Sale Date: June 2, 2023

Auction Closed

Etude d'après Velasquez, 1989

Francis Bacon

Etude d'après Velasquez, 1989

Sale Date: June 7, 2023

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Deuxième version du trityque 1944 – 1989

Francis Bacon

Deuxième version du trityque 1944 – 1989

Sale Date: June 7, 2023

Auction Closed

METROPOLITAN TRIPTYCH, 1981

Francis Bacon

METROPOLITAN TRIPTYCH, 1981

Sale Date: May 29, 2023

Auction Closed

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