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 (3,365 results)

Second Version of Painting 1946, 1946

Francis Bacon

Second Version of Painting 1946, 1946

Sale Date: October 29, 2023

Auction Closed

Sin título (

Francis Bacon

Sin título ("Triptych 1986-1987")

Sale Date: October 5, 2023

Auction Closed

Triptych Inspired by Oresteia of..., 1979–1981

Francis Bacon

Triptych Inspired by Oresteia of..., 1979–1981

Sale Date: December 8, 2022

Auction Closed

Study for a Portrait, 1979

Francis Bacon

Study for a Portrait, 1979

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Metropolitan triptych, 1981

Francis Bacon

Metropolitan triptych, 1981

Sale Date: October 3, 2023

Auction Closed

Metropolitan triptych, 1981

Francis Bacon

Metropolitan triptych, 1981

Sale Date: October 3, 2023

Auction Closed

Metropolitan triptych, 1981

Francis Bacon

Metropolitan triptych, 1981

Sale Date: October 3, 2023

Auction Closed

Studies of the Human Body, 1980

Francis Bacon

Studies of the Human Body, 1980

Sale Date: October 3, 2023

Auction Closed

Second Version of Painting 1946, 1971

Francis Bacon

Second Version of Painting 1946, 1971

Sale Date: September 26, 2023

Auction Closed

Studies of the Human Body

Francis Bacon

Studies of the Human Body

Sale Date: September 23, 2023

Auction Closed

Portrait Michel Leiris, 1976

Francis Bacon

Portrait Michel Leiris, 1976

Sale Date: September 20, 2023

Auction Closed

Triptych (after, Triptych 1974-1977) (S. 4,..., 1981

After Francis Bacon

Triptych (after, Triptych 1974-1977) (S. 4,..., 1981

Sale Date: September 21, 2023

Auction Closed

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

Francis Bacon

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

Sale Date: September 21, 2023

Auction Closed

Triptych - In Memory of George Dyer

Francis Bacon

Triptych - In Memory of George Dyer" (one work

Sale Date: September 14, 2023

Auction Closed

Derriere le miroir - Francis Bacon:..., 1966

Francis Bacon

Derriere le miroir - Francis Bacon:..., 1966

Sale Date: September 14, 2023

Auction Closed

Oedipus and the Sphinx After Ingres |..., 1984

Francis Bacon

Oedipus and the Sphinx After Ingres |..., 1984

Sale Date: September 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Seated Figure, 1992

Francis Bacon

Seated Figure, 1992

Sale Date: September 7, 2023

Auction Closed

Study for a Portrait of Pope Innocent X..., 1989

Francis Bacon

Study for a Portrait of Pope Innocent X..., 1989

Sale Date: September 7, 2023

Auction Closed

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

Auction Closed

Second Version of Painting 1946, 1971

Francis Bacon

Second Version of Painting 1946, 1971

Sale Date: August 17, 2023

Auction Closed

Exhibition poster. Marlborough Zürich, 1975

Francis Bacon

Exhibition poster. Marlborough Zürich, 1975

Sale Date: July 10, 2023

Auction Closed

Three Studies for a Self-Portrait, 1990

Francis Bacon

Three Studies for a Self-Portrait, 1990

Sale Date: June 29, 2023

Auction Closed

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

Francis Bacon

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

Sale Date: June 27, 2023

Auction Closed

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