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)

Oedipus and the Sphinx after Ingres, 1983

Francis Bacon

Oedipus and the Sphinx after Ingres, 1983

Sale Date: March 7, 2023

Auction Closed

A head study

Circle of Francis Bacon

Sale Date: March 1, 2023

Auction Closed

A head study

Circle of Francis Bacon

Sale Date: March 1, 2023

Auction Closed

Study for Head of Lucian Freud (Q3), 1967

After Francis Bacon

Study for Head of Lucian Freud (Q3), 1967

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Senza titolo, 1966

Francis Bacon

Senza titolo, 1966

Sale Date: February 10, 2023

Auction Closed

Self-portrait, 1973

Francis Bacon

Self-portrait, 1973

Sale Date: February 5, 2023

Auction Closed

Studies of the Human Body, 1980

Francis Bacon

Studies of the Human Body, 1980

Sale Date: February 5, 2023

Auction Closed

Triptych 1986-1987: right panel (after,..., 1987

Francis Bacon

Triptych 1986-1987: right panel (after,..., 1987

Sale Date: January 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Étude d'après le portrait du Pape Innocent X , 1989

Francis Bacon

Étude d'après le portrait du Pape Innocent X , 1989

Sale Date: January 18, 2023

Auction Closed

Deuxième version du triptyque 1944 (after,..., 1944

Francis Bacon

Deuxième version du triptyque 1944 (after,..., 1944

Sale Date: January 18, 2023

Auction Closed

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

Francis Bacon

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

Sale Date: January 18, 2023

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Feria Nimes, 1992

After Francis Bacon

Feria Nimes, 1992

Sale Date: December 20, 2022

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Seated Figure (Sabatier 5), 1983

Francis Bacon

Seated Figure (Sabatier 5), 1983

Sale Date: December 13, 2022

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Metropolitan triptych: center panel, 1981

Francis Bacon

Metropolitan triptych: center panel, 1981

Sale Date: December 15, 2022

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Étude pour une corrida, 1971

Francis Bacon

Étude pour une corrida, 1971

Sale Date: December 15, 2022

Auction Closed

Oedipus and the Sphinx, 1983

Francis Bacon

Oedipus and the Sphinx, 1983

Sale Date: December 11, 2022

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Mask mortuaire by William Blake, 1991

Francis Bacon

Mask mortuaire by William Blake, 1991

Sale Date: December 9, 2022

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Portrait Of Peter Beard, 1976

Francis Bacon

Portrait Of Peter Beard, 1976

Sale Date: December 7, 2022

Auction Closed

TROIS ETUDES POUR UN AUTOPORTRAIT, 1990

Francis Bacon

TROIS ETUDES POUR UN AUTOPORTRAIT, 1990

Sale Date: November 23, 2022

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Hommage à Vincent Van Gogh' (Vincent Van..., 1989

Francis Bacon

Hommage à Vincent Van Gogh' (Vincent Van..., 1989

Sale Date: November 25, 2022

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Œdipe et le Sphinx d'après Ingres, 1984

Francis Bacon

Œdipe et le Sphinx d'après Ingres, 1984

Sale Date: November 29, 2022

Auction Closed

Etude pour une corrida, 1971

Francis Bacon

Etude pour une corrida, 1971

Sale Date: November 29, 2022

Auction Closed

Homme écrivant reflété dans un miroir, 1977

Francis Bacon

Homme écrivant reflété dans un miroir, 1977

Sale Date: November 29, 2022

Auction Closed

Study for self-portrait, 1984

Francis Bacon

Study for self-portrait, 1984

Sale Date: December 1, 2022

Auction Closed

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