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)
Self-Portrait (S. 12, T. 7), 1977

Francis Bacon

Self-Portrait (S. 12, T. 7), 1977

Sale Date: April 20, 2021

Auction Closed

Study from the Human Body, 1981

Francis Bacon

Study from the Human Body, 1981

Sale Date: April 20, 2021

Auction Closed

Second Version, Triptych 1944, 1989

Francis Bacon

Second Version, Triptych 1944, 1989

Sale Date: April 15, 2021

Auction Closed

Seated Figure, 1992

Francis Bacon

Seated Figure, 1992

Sale Date: April 15, 2021

Auction Closed

Hommage à Van Gogh, 1989

Francis Bacon

Hommage à Van Gogh, 1989

Sale Date: April 15, 2021

Auction Closed

ŒDIPE ET LE SPHINX, 1984 (Sabatier, 18), 1984

Francis Bacon

ŒDIPE ET LE SPHINX, 1984 (Sabatier, 18), 1984

Sale Date: April 15, 2021

Auction Closed

SECOND VERSION OF THE TRIPTYCH 1944, 1989..., 1944

Francis Bacon

SECOND VERSION OF THE TRIPTYCH 1944, 1989..., 1944

Sale Date: April 15, 2021

Auction Closed

Study for a Portrait for John Edwards

Francis Bacon

Study for a Portrait for John Edwards

Sale Date: March 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Study for self-portrait, 1982

Francis Bacon

Study for self-portrait, 1982

Sale Date: March 31, 2021

Auction Closed

Studies of the human body, 1980

Francis Bacon

Studies of the human body, 1980

Sale Date: March 31, 2021

Auction Closed

Sand Dune, 1981

Francis Bacon

Sand Dune, 1981

Sale Date: March 23, 2021

Auction Closed

Right Panel from Triptych 1986-1987, 1987

Francis Bacon

Right Panel from Triptych 1986-1987, 1987

Sale Date: March 23, 2021

Auction Closed

Study from the Human Body (S. 8), 1987

Francis Bacon

Study from the Human Body (S. 8), 1987

Sale Date: March 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Triptych 1983 (S. 17), 1983

Francis Bacon

Triptych 1983 (S. 17), 1983

Sale Date: March 17, 2021

Auction Closed

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

Francis Bacon

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

Sale Date: March 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Oedipus and the Sphinx after Ingres..., 1984

Francis Bacon

Oedipus and the Sphinx after Ingres..., 1984

Sale Date: March 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Study for Head of Lucian Freud (HENI Q3), 2015

After Francis Bacon

Study for Head of Lucian Freud (HENI Q3), 2015

Sale Date: March 16, 2021

Auction Closed

OEDIPE ET LE SPHINX (D’APRÈS INGRES), 1984

Francis Bacon

OEDIPE ET LE SPHINX (D’APRÈS INGRES), 1984

Sale Date: March 2, 2021

Auction Closed

Portrait of William Blake, 1991

Francis Bacon

Portrait of William Blake, 1991

Sale Date: February 24, 2021

Auction Closed

Q4 Study of a Nude, 1953/2015, 1953–2015

After Francis Bacon

Q4 Study of a Nude, 1953/2015, 1953–2015

Sale Date: February 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Deuxième version du triptyque, 1944 (Second..., 1989

Francis Bacon

Deuxième version du triptyque, 1944 (Second..., 1989

Sale Date: January 21, 2021

Auction Closed

Self Portrait, 1977

After Francis Bacon

Self Portrait, 1977

Sale Date: December 9, 2020

Auction Closed

Triptych (pannello sinistro), 1981

Francis Bacon

Triptych (pannello sinistro), 1981

Sale Date: December 12, 2020

Auction Closed

Head VI, Hayward Gallery London SE1..., 1980

Francis Bacon

Head VI, Hayward Gallery London SE1..., 1980

Sale Date: December 9, 2020

Auction Closed

English (US)

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