Francis Bacon: Studies for a Portrait

by Michael Peppiatt

Francis Bacon was one of most elusive and enigmatic creative geniuses of the twentieth century. However much his avowed aim was to simplify both himself and his art, he remained a deeply complex person. Bacon was keenly aware of this underlying contradiction, and whether talking or painting, strove consciously towards absolute clarity and simplicity, calling himself simply complicated. Until now, this complexity has rarely come across in the large number of studies on Bacons life and work. Francis Studies for a Portrait shows a variety of Bacons many facets, and questions the accepted views on an artist who was adept at defying categorization. The essays and interviews brought together here span more than half a century. Opening with an interview by the author in 1963, the year that he met Bacon, there are also essays written for exhibitions, memoirs and reflections on Bacons late work, some published here for the first time. Included are recorded conversations with Bacon in Paris that lasted long into the night, and an overall account of the artists sources and techniques in his extraordinary London studio. This is an updated edition of Francis Studies for a Portrait (2008), published for the first time in a paperback reading book format. It brings this fascinating artist into closer view, revealing the core of his his skill for marrying extreme contradictions and translating them into immediately recognizable images, whose characteristic tension derives from a life lived constantly on the edge.

Genres: Art

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 18, 2008

Reviews

[Hope Fincham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sparked a Bacon obsession in me

[james !! · Rating 4 out of 5]

really good book!! feels far more intimate than other works i’ve read about Bacon due to their close relationship! did somewhat expect a few more ‘formal’ interview sections but the essays & overall knowledge made up for that! feel like this pairs perfectly with David Sylvester’s work with Bacon. lots of great segments about a wide variety of subjects! suitable & enjoyable for pretty much any level of knowledge/interest!

[Tutankhamun18 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great book! Essay format means you can pick up and put down again. Many essays on topics more personal to Bacon as a person such as friends of his, or his piercing eyes and so puts his art work within an interesting personal context that is not usually elaborated on by the likes of david sylvester. My favourites, the sacred and the profane expands on his obsession with velasques pope and cruxifiction themes, the legacy of a genius: van gogh and francis bacon is fascinatin in the parallels drawn between the two in their frequent “study of” and obsession for subject matter, and all the pulsations of a person: francis bacons portraits and self portraits beautifully explores “coagulations of non-representational marks which have led to making a great image.”

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly I knew very little about Francis Bacon before reading this, and had decided to add the book to my list due to a different (and unavailable) book of interviews showing up on David Bowie's 75 must-read books. In many ways, this is a pretty standard biography, but Bacon was such a character - gay, lover of drink and food and extravagance, obsessive, and of course often dark that it still makes for an interesting read.