1909-1992
Francis Bacon is the most important British painter of the twentieth century. He initially established his reputation in London in the 1940s when he was widely publicised for the horror of his imagery, in which he sort to strip man of any veneer of civilisation to expose the psyche of the subject and reveal the Human Condition.
He is often associated with the School of London, a circle of figurative painters that includes Michael Andrews, Frank Auerbach Lucian Freud, Leon Kossoff and R.B.Kitaj.
In his recreation of the subject Bacon built from Picasso to create a brilliantly inventive art that combined chance with control.
Francis Bacon
1909
Born in Dublin, Ireland
1914
At the outbreak of war, family move to London. Thereafter the family move back and forth between England and Irleand changing houses every year or two, never having a permanent home
1925
Bacon suffered with asthma as a child & is privately tutored. Leaves home at 16 and moves to London
1927-28
Travels to Berlin and Paris - saw Picasso exhibition which inspires him to start making drawings and watercolours
1929
Returns to London. Exhibits in his Queensbury Mews studio furniture and rugs made from his own designs. Begins painting in oils
1930
Arranges a joint exhibition at his studio with Roy de Maistre, showing furniture as well as paintings and gouaches. The Studio magazine features a double page article on his studio titled 'The 1930 Look in British Decoration'
1931
Moves to Fulham Road. Gradually abandons his work as a decorator in order to devote himself to painting. Earns his living by doing odd jobs, none of them connected with art
1933
Paints Crucifixion 1933 which is reproduced in Herbert Read's Art Now
1934
First one-man show at the Transition Gallery, Sunderland House. Discouraged by its lack of success, he paints less and less and starts to gamble
1936
Work submitted to the International Surrealist Exhibition rejected for being "not sufficiently surreal"
1937
Takes part in group exhibition, Young British Painters at Agnews, London organised by his friend Eric Hall. Other artists included Roy de Maistre, Graham Sutherland, Victor Pasmore and Ivon Hitchens
1941-44
Rents Millais's old studio in Kensington. Destroys all his earlier works (only ten canvases remain from the period 1929-44). Declared unfit for military service due to his asthma and is assigned to Civil Defence (ARP)1944-45
Resumes paintins and executes the triptych Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion which causes considerable consternation when shown at the Lefevre Gallery in April 1945. Acquired by the Tate in 1953
1945-46
Exhibits Figure in a Landscape and Figure Study II in group exhibitions held at the Lefevre and Redfern Galleries. Other artists included Matthew Smith, Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland1946-50
Lives mainly in Monte Carlo. Friendship with Graham Sutherland
1948
Alfred H. Barr purchases Painting 1946, one of his most important works for the MoMA, New York
1949
One-man show at Hanover Gallery, London, who became his agent for the next ten years. Begins painting the series of heads, including Head VI which is regarded as the first of the "Pope" paintings
1950
Teaches briefly at the Royal College of Art
1951
First portrait of Lucian Freud
1953
First one-man show outside the UK at Durlacher Brothers, New York
1954
Represents Great Britain in the XXVII Venice Biennale with Ben Nicholson and Lucian Freud
1955
First retrospective at the ICA, London. Paints portraits of collectors Robert and Lisa Sainbury who become his patrons
1956
Visits Tangier to seee his friend Peter Lacey. Returns there frequently during the next three years
1958
Signs contract with Marlborough Fine Art Ltd., London
1959
Paints for a while in St. Ives, Cornwall
1962
Paints his first large triptych Three Studies for a Crucifixion acquired by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Death of Peter Lacey
1964
Friendship with George Dyer who becomes a model for many of his paintings
1967
Awarded the Painting Prize at the Pittsburg International and the Rubens Prize by the City of Siegen
1971
Death of his friend George Dyer
1992
Died in Madrid, Spain
Selected Exhibitions
2008-2009
Francis Bacon, Tate Britain, London
2008
Violence and Sensation; Francis Bacon and the Remaking of Appearence, James Hyman Gallery, London
Bacon; Prints, James Hyman Gallery, LondonIII, Stadel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
Modern Prints - Klassische Moderne bis Pop Art, Galerie Proarata, Zurich, Switzerland
2006 - 2007
Francis Bacon - The Violence of the Real, K20 Kunstsammlung Nordhein Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
2006
Bienal del Aire, Museo de Arte Contemporde Caracas Sofía Imber (MACCSI), Caracas, Venezuela
Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Fine Art, London
Mirada m, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
Francis Bacon, Gagosian Gallery, London
2005
Francis Bacon: Die Portraits, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
De Picasso a Basquiat, Musée Maillol, Fondation Dina Vierny, Paris, France
Celebracidel arte: Medio siglo de la FundaciJuan March, FundaciJuan March, Madrid, Spain
Summer Exhibition 2005, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Francis Bacon: Studying Form, Faggionato Fine Art, London, UK
2004
Whatmodern?, Gagosian Gallery, New York, NY
Hidden Histories, The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, West Midlands, UK
Modern Means: Continuity and Change in Art from 1880 to the Present, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Francis Bacon: Le Sacré et le Profane, Musée Maillol, Fondation Dina Vierny, Paris, France
2003
Francis Bacon, Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna; touring to Basel, Fondation Beyeler
Francis Bacon, Institut Valencia d'Art Modern, Valencia, Spain
Francis Bacon, Museu de Arte Contemporanea, Museu Serralves, Oporto, Portugal
Francis Bacon: Last Paintings, Faggionato Fine Art, London
2002
Francis Bacon, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York
Francis Bacon, Fondation Vincent Van Gogh-Arles, Arles, France
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Gallery, London
2001
Francis Bacon, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Netherlands
2000
Francis Bacon, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin
Auerbach, Bacon, Freud, Kossoff, James Hyman Gallery, London
1999
Francis Bacon, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, US
Francis Bacon, New Haven, The Yale Centre for British art; travelled to: Minneapolis, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts; San Francisco, Museum of Modern Art; Fort Worth, Museum of Modern Art
Francis Bacon: Works on Paper, Tate Gallery, London
Francis Bacon, Faggionato Fine Arts, London
Francis Bacon, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
1998
Francis Bacon, Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark
Francis Bacon, Hayward Gallery, London
Francis Bacon, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York
1996
Francis Bacon, Centre G Pompidou, MNA, Paris, France; travelled to: Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
1993
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Gallery, New York
Francis Bacon, Museo d'Arte Moderna, Lugano, Switzerland
Francis Bacon, Museo Correr, XLV Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Fine Art, London
1992
Francis Bacon, Galeria Marlborough, Madrid, Spain
1990
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Fine Art, New York
Francis Bacon, Tate Gallery, Liverpool
1989
Francis Bacon, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Fine Art, London
Francis Bacon, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington; travelled to: County Museum, Los Angeles; MOMA, New York
1988
Central House of Artists, New Tretyakov, Moscow, Russia
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Fine Art, Tokyo, Japan
1987
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Gallery, New York
Francis Bacon, Galerie Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland
Francis Bacon, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
1985
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Fine Art, New York
Francis Bacon, Tate Gallery, London; travelled to Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart; Nationalgaleri, Berlin
1984
Francis Bacon, Galerie Maeght- Lelong, Paris, France
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Gallery, New York
Francis Bacon, Thomas Gibson Gallery, London
1983
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Fine Art, London
Francis Bacon, National Museum of Modern Art, Toyko, Japan; travelled to National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; Aichi Prefectural Art Gallery, Nagoya
1980
Francis Bacon, Stadtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim, Germany
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Gallery, New York
1978
Francis Bacon, Fundacion Juan March, Madrid, Spain; travelled to Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona, Spain
1977
Francis Bacon, Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris, France
Francis Bacon, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico; travelled to: Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Caracas, Venezuela
1976
Francis Bacon, Musee Cantini, Marseilles, France
1975
Francis Bacon, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
1972
Francis Bacon, Galleria del Milione, Milan, Italy
1971
Francis Bacon, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris France; travelled to Stadische Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf, Germany
1970
Francis Bacon, Galleria Galatea, Turin, Italy
1968
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Gerson Gallery, New York
1966
Francis Bacon, Galleria Toninelli Arte Moderna, Milan, Italy
Francis Bacon, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France; travelled to Marlborough Galleria d'arte, Rome; Marlborough Fine Art, London; Oberes Schloss, Germany
1965
Francis Bacon, Hamburger Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany; travelled to Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin; Marlborough Fine Art, London
1964
Francis Bacon, Contemporary Arts Association, Houston, Texas
1963
Francis Bacon, Marlborough Fine Art, London
Francis Bacon, Granville Gallery, New York
Francis Bacon, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York; travelled to The Art Institute, Chicago
1962
Francis Bacon, The Tate Gallery, London; travelled to: Kunsthalle, Mannheim; Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Turin ; Zurich, Kunsthaus; Amsterdam, Stedelijk Musuem
Franics Bacon, Galleria Galatea, Milan, Italy
1961
Francis Bacon, Nottingham University, Nottingham
1960
Franics Bacon, Marlborough Fine Art, London
1959
Francis Bacon, Hanover Gallery, London
Francis Bacon, Richard L.Feigen Gallery, Chicago
1958
Francis Bacon, Galleria Galatea, Turin, Italy; travelled to Galleria dell'Ariete, Milan; Galleria l'Obelisco, Rome
1957
Francis Bacon, Galerie Rive Droite, Paris, France
Francis Bacon, Beaux-Arts Gallery, London
1955
Francis Bacon, ICA, London
1954
Francis Bacon, Hanover Gallery, London
1953
Francis Bacon, Durlacher Brothers, New York
Francis Bacon, Beaux-Arts Gallery, London
1952
Francis Bacon, Hanover Gallery, London
1951
Francis Bacon, Hanover Gallery, London
1934
Francis Bacon, Transition Gallery, London
1928 - 1929
Francis Bacon, Artist's Studio, London
Selected Collections
Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, USA
Art Centre, Des Moines, USA
Art Gallery, Aberdeen, Scotland
Art Gallery, Gothenburg, Sweden
Art Gallery, Kirklees Metropolitan Council, Huddersfield
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Art Museum Antheneum, Helsinki, Finland
Bezalel National Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Boymans Van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Brera Museum of Modern Art, Milan, Italy
City Art Gallery, Birmingham
City Art Gallery, Manchester
Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Turin, Italy
Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, The Netherlands
Institute of Arts, Detroit, USA
Institure of Arts, Minneapolis, USA
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, USA
King's College Hatton Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
Kunsthalle, Mannheim, Germany
Kunsthaus, Zurich, Switzerland
Kunstmuseum, Hanover, Germany
Kunstsammlung Nordhein-Westfallen, Dusseldorf, Germany
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Musee Cantini, Marseille, France
Musee des Beaux-Arts, Ghent, Belgium
Musee des Beaux-Arts, Liege, Belgium
Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Caracas, Venezuela
Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao, Spain
Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico
Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester
Museum of Art, Cleveland, USA
Museum of Art, Fukuoka, Japan
Museum of Fine Art, Dallas, USA
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Museum of Modern Art, Toyama, Japan
Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
National Gallery of South Australia, Adeliade, Australia
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Wales
Pembroke College, Oxford
Phillips Collection, Washington, USA
Royal College of Art, London
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany
Staatsgalerie Modern Kunst, Munich, Germany
Stadelches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, Germany
Stadtische Kunstgalerie, Bochum , Germany
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Tate Collection, London
Temple Newsam House, Leeds
The Arts Council of Great Britain, London
The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Washington, USA
The National Gallery of Canada, Ottowa, Canada
The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Ulster Museum, Belfast, Ireland
Univeristy Art Museum, Berkeley, USA
University of East Anglia, Norwich
Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, USA
Vatican Museum of Modern Art, Rome, Italy
Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal, Germany
Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Ludwig Collection, Cologne, Germany
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, USA
Selected Publications
Alley, Ronald and Rothenstein, John, Francis Bacon, Thames & Hudson, 1964
Davies, Hugh and Yard, Sally, Bacon, Abbeville, 1986
Deleuze, Gilles, Francis Bacon, Logique de la Sensation (2 vol), La Différence, 1994
Farson, Daniel, The Gilded Gutter Life of Francis Bacon, Century, 1993
Gale, Matthew & Stephens, Chris, Francis Bacon, Tate Publishing, 2008
Hammer, Martine & Bailey, Paul, Francis Bacon: Portraits and Heads, National Galleries of Scotland, 2005
Harrison, Martin, Francis Bacon: Paintings from the Estate 1980-1991, Faggionato Fine Art, 1999
Kundera, Milan, Bacon, Portraits et Auto-portraits, Les Belles Lettres, 1996
Leiris, Michel, Francis Bacon, Full Face and in Profile, Phaidon, 1983
Peppiat, Michael, Francis Bacon: Anatomy of an Enigma, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997
Russell, John, Francis Bacon (World of Art), Thames & Hudson, 1993
Schmied, Wieland, Francis Bacon, Commitment and Conflict, Prestel, 1996
Sollers, Philippe, Les Passions de Francis Bacon, Gallimard, 1996
Sylvestor, David, and Harrison, Martin, Francis Bacon: Studying Form, Faggionato Fine Art in association with the Estate of Francis Bacon, 2005
Sylvester, David, Interviews with Francis Bacon, Thames & Hudson, 1987
Sylvester, David, Interviews with Francis Bacon: 1962-1979 (New and enlarged edition), Thames and Hudson, 1980
Trucchi, Lorenza, Francis Bacon, Abrams, 1975