Martin Harrison

Ernst van Alphen

Rebecca Daniels

Margarita Cappock

Twenty years after the artist's death, this new publication presents a timely and rich overview of the life and work of Francis Bacon. The book includes some 60 paintings as well as photographs, ephemera and archival material largely drawn from the artists studio. An introduction and four essays by international experts look at specific aspects of Bacon's work, from detailed analysis of archival material to a study of the influences of Marcel Duchamp. The paintings divide into a thematic chronology of five decades: the 1940s, which looks at the figure studies closely related to Bacon's famous Three studies for figures at the base of a crucifixion; the 1950s, where his work is informed by Velázquez and van Gogh, but is also dominated by ambiguous, shadowy figures in sombre tones; the 1960s and 70s, which focus on the portraits and subsequent memorials to Bacon's lover George Dyer, who died in 1971; the 1980s, while calmer and more naturalistic, reveal more haunted works which make reference to classical mythology and epic poetry. Each decade is defined by influences in his life and motifs which form part of an evolving pictorial language.

Five Decades

Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon's Studio

Sarah Cecilia Harrison (1863-1941) was one of Dublin's finest portrait painters but also immersed herself in the political and social fabric of Dublin life, becoming the first female City Councillor in 1912. Deeply involved in philanthropic, political, civic, and artistic efforts, she was a staunch supporter and ally of Hugh Lane in the establishment of a modern art gallery for Dublin. In tandem with her artistic talents, Harrison was a progressive and enlightened woman but her contribution to the cultural and political life of Dublin has previously been overlooked. This publication, generously illustrated with paintings by Harrison, will restore and champion Harrison's position as a woman who not only was a notable artistic talent but also made major contributions to the social and cultural fabric of Dublin life.

Artist, Social Campaigner and City Councillor

Sarah Cecilia Harrison (1863-1941)

Francis Bacon (1909-1992) is widely regarded as one of the most significant post-war painters. From 1961, his studio at 7 Reece Mews, South Kensington, London, was both his home and his workplace, and, over time, the repository of thousands of items that were central to his art, the impetus for many of his most important paintings. The studio - with its extraordinarily rich contents untouched since Bacon's death - was donated in 1998 by John Edwards to Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, where, after meticulous dismantling and reconstruction by archaeologists, conservators and curators, it is now on permanent display. The studio's deconstruction revealed some 7500 objects, among them numerous well-thumbed, folded and torn photographs, many depicting Bacon's friends and lovers; illustrated publications, including books and magazine articles on subjects as diverse as medicine, sport, wildlife and war; drawings, interventions and handwritten notes by Bacon; slashed canvases and his final, unfinished work; and a welter of artist's materials - the walls themselves are vivid with encrusted paint, mixed and tested by Bacon. In Francis Bacon's Studio, Margarita Cappock provides the first in-depth study of the studio, selecting key elements from the dense mass of objects Bacon accumulated and placing them succinctly within the context of the artist's life and practice. Profusely illustrated with unique material that has never previously been published, Francis Bacon's Studio makes an important contribution to Bacon studies, especially in relation to the last three decades of the artist's career. Drawing on artefacts that resonate with the energy of Bacon's work, this book offers unprecedented insights into the sources, inspiration and working methods of one of the giants of modern art.

Margarita Cappock

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