Francis Bacon

Irish-bornEnglishpainterFrancisBacon(1909-1992)createdworkthatremainsunmatchedinrawforceandvitality,andheiswidelyconsideredoneofthegreatestartistsofthetwentiethcentury.CriticRonaldJoneshasdescribedhisthemesas"thehowlingsubjectswithwhichBaconstruggled--Existentialism,AbstractExpressionismandtheprimaldramaofaworldnewlyacquaintedwiththeBomb."Baconwaspreoccupiedwithprobingtheisolationandterrorofthehumancondition,whichhechieflyconveyedthroughalaboreddistortionofthehumanbody.AsSamHunter--whopennedoneofthefirstmajoressaysonBaconin1950--writesinhisintroductoryessaytothisvolume,"whathasbecomeincreasinglyclearwiththetestoftime...istheclarity,durabilityandpowerfulauthorityofhisvisualdiscourse."Thisconcisemonographpresentsanin-depthsurveyofBacon'sentireoeuvre.BritishartistFrancisBaconisoneofthegreatestpaintersofthetwentiethcentury.Hiscanvasesofthe1940sborewitnesstothetraumatizedpsychologyofthetimeandbestoweduponhimaprominencethatdidnotdiminishinthecourseofhis50-yearcareer.Recentauctionsaleshaveconfirmedhisworksassomeofthemostsought-afteroftheModernera.