Human Presence - Francis Bacon

The first volume in over 20 years dedicated to Bacon’s unconventional, psychologically trenchant portraits

Featuring works from the 1950s onward, this book explores the genre-defying portraiture of Irish British artist Francis Bacon (1909–92). It is the first publication in over 20 years dedicated to this facet of Bacon’s practice. From his responses to portraiture by earlier artists to large-scale paintings memorializing lost lovers, these selected works showcase Bacon’s life story. In addition to the artist’s self-portraits, sitters include Lucian Freud, Isabel Rawsthorne and his lovers Peter Lacy and George Dyer.

From his renowned triptychs and paintings of ghostly figures to tender and psychologically revealing individual portraits, the figurative works displayed in this publication chart the development of a groundbreaking artist, highlighting the influence of his peers and other artists. Francis Bacon: Human Presence also features illustrated biographies of Bacon and his circle, bringing lesser-told stories to the fore.