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.

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Francis Bacon Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Francis Bacon (3,557 results)
Oedipus and the Sphinx, 1983, 1983

Francis Bacon

Oedipus and the Sphinx, 1983, 1983

Sale Date: May 1, 2022

Auction Closed

Study from the human body, 1987, 1987

Francis Bacon

Study from the human body, 1987, 1987

Sale Date: May 1, 2022

Auction Closed

TRIPTYCH 1974-77, 1981

Francis Bacon

TRIPTYCH 1974-77, 1981

Sale Date: May 4, 2022

Auction Closed

Portrait de Michel Leiris, 1977

Francis Bacon

Portrait de Michel Leiris, 1977

Sale Date: May 19, 2022

Auction Closed

Second Version of Triptych 1944

Francis Bacon

Second Version of Triptych 1944

Sale Date: May 12, 2022

Auction Closed

Miroir de la Tauromachie

Francis Bacon

Miroir de la Tauromachie

Sale Date: May 12, 2022

Auction Closed

Study of a Human Body After Ingres

Francis Bacon

Study of a Human Body After Ingres

Sale Date: May 12, 2022

Auction Closed

Etude pour une corrida (d'après Study for a...

Francis Bacon

Etude pour une corrida (d'après Study for a...

Sale Date: April 22, 2022

Auction Closed

Exhibition at Marlborough/Gerson Galleries, 1968

Francis Bacon

Exhibition at Marlborough/Gerson Galleries, 1968

Sale Date: April 19, 2022

Auction Closed

Logique de la Sensation (after Study for the , 1981

Francis Bacon

Logique de la Sensation (after Study for the , 1981

Sale Date: April 21, 2022

Auction Closed

Study for Portrait of John Edwards (Sabatier , 1987

Francis Bacon

Study for Portrait of John Edwards (Sabatier , 1987

Sale Date: April 21, 2022

Auction Closed

Three Studies for a Self-Portrait (Sabatier..., 1981

Francis Bacon

Three Studies for a Self-Portrait (Sabatier..., 1981

Sale Date: April 21, 2022

Auction Closed

Study for Bullfight No 1 (S. 10, T. 2), 1971

Francis Bacon

Study for Bullfight No 1 (S. 10, T. 2), 1971

Sale Date: April 19, 2022

Auction Closed

DERRIERE LE MIROIR, N°162, 1966, 1966

Francis Bacon

DERRIERE LE MIROIR, N°162, 1966, 1966

Sale Date: April 7, 2022

Auction Closed

Francis Bacon: Georges Pompidou

Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon: Georges Pompidou

Sale Date: March 30, 2022

Auction Closed

Un Musée éphémerè, 1986

Francis Bacon

Un Musée éphémerè, 1986

Sale Date: March 30, 2022

Auction Closed

Portrait Of George Dyer Riding A Bicycle - QB1

Francis Bacon

Portrait Of George Dyer Riding A Bicycle - QB1

Sale Date: March 30, 2022

Auction Closed

TRIPTYCH - 1983, 1983

Francis Bacon

TRIPTYCH - 1983, 1983

Sale Date: April 6, 2022

Auction Closed

Miroir de la Tauromachie, 1990

Francis Bacon

Miroir de la Tauromachie, 1990

Sale Date: March 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Étude pour une Corrida, after Study for..., 1971

Francis Bacon

Étude pour une Corrida, after Study for..., 1971

Sale Date: March 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Etude pour un portrait de Pape Innocent X, 1989

Francis Bacon

Etude pour un portrait de Pape Innocent X, 1989

Sale Date: March 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Three Studies for a Self-Portrait, 1981

Francis Bacon

Three Studies for a Self-Portrait, 1981

Sale Date: March 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Triptych - In Memory of George Dyer (left..., 1975

Francis Bacon

Triptych - In Memory of George Dyer (left..., 1975

Sale Date: March 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Triptych (S. 25; T. 27), 1989

Francis Bacon

Triptych (S. 25; T. 27), 1989

Sale Date: March 16, 2022

Auction Closed

English (US)

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