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)
Figure at a Washbasin (from Requiem pour la..., 1976

Francis Bacon

Figure at a Washbasin (from Requiem pour la..., 1976

Sale Date: December 9, 2021

Auction Closed

Triptych - August 1972, 1972

Francis Bacon

Triptych - August 1972, 1972

Sale Date: December 21, 2021

Auction Closed

The Oresteia by Aeschylus, 1981

Francis Bacon

The Oresteia by Aeschylus, 1981

Sale Date: December 21, 2021

Auction Closed

Triptych, 1983

Francis Bacon

Triptych, 1983

Sale Date: December 21, 2021

Auction Closed

STUDY FOR PORTRAIT OF JOHN EDWARDS

Francis Bacon

STUDY FOR PORTRAIT OF JOHN EDWARDS

Sale Date: December 9, 2021

Auction Closed

Triptych 1991 (Right Panel), 1992

Francis Bacon

Triptych 1991 (Right Panel), 1992

Sale Date: December 7, 2021

Auction Closed

Figure At A Washbasin, 1977–1978

Francis Bacon

Figure At A Washbasin, 1977–1978

Sale Date: December 7, 2021

Auction Closed

Portrait Of Michel Leiris, 1990

Francis Bacon

Portrait Of Michel Leiris, 1990

Sale Date: December 7, 2021

Auction Closed

Study For Portrait Of John Edwards, 1987

Francis Bacon

Study For Portrait Of John Edwards, 1987

Sale Date: December 7, 2021

Auction Closed

Triptych, 1987

Francis Bacon

Triptych, 1987

Sale Date: December 7, 2021

Auction Closed

Man writing reflected in a mirror, 1977

Francis Bacon

Man writing reflected in a mirror, 1977

Sale Date: December 7, 2021

Auction Closed

George Dyer - 1976, 1976

Francis Bacon

George Dyer - 1976, 1976

Sale Date: November 24, 2021

Auction Closed

Trois études pour un autoportrait - 1990, 1990

Francis Bacon

Trois études pour un autoportrait - 1990, 1990

Sale Date: November 24, 2021

Auction Closed

Autoportrait - 1977, 1977

Francis Bacon

Autoportrait - 1977, 1977

Sale Date: November 24, 2021

Auction Closed

Etude pour une corrida – 1971, 1971

Francis Bacon

Etude pour une corrida – 1971, 1971

Sale Date: November 24, 2021

Auction Closed

Triptych 1983, 1983

Francis Bacon

Triptych 1983, 1983

Sale Date: November 23, 2021

Auction Closed

Pope with Owls, 1958

Francis Bacon

Pope with Owls, 1958

Sale Date: November 17, 2021

Auction Closed

L'Orestie d'Eschyle (Triptych), 1981

Francis Bacon

L'Orestie d'Eschyle (Triptych), 1981

Sale Date: November 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Figure At A Washbasin, 1977–1978

Francis Bacon

Figure At A Washbasin, 1977–1978

Sale Date: November 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Portrait de Michel Leiris, from Requiem pour , 1976

Francis Bacon

Portrait de Michel Leiris, from Requiem pour , 1976

Sale Date: November 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Etude pour un portrait de John Edwards..., 1986

Francis Bacon

Etude pour un portrait de John Edwards..., 1986

Sale Date: November 10, 2021

Auction Closed

Second Version, Triptych 1944, 1989

Francis Bacon

Second Version, Triptych 1944, 1989

Sale Date: October 26, 2021

Auction Closed

Oedipus and the sphinx, 1984

Francis Bacon

Oedipus and the sphinx, 1984

Sale Date: November 2, 2021

Auction Closed

ÉTUDE DE CORPS HUMAIN D'APRÈS INGRES, 1981, 1981

Francis Bacon

ÉTUDE DE CORPS HUMAIN D'APRÈS INGRES, 1981, 1981

Sale Date: October 25, 2021

Auction Closed

English (US)

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