Cannycourt House, near Celbridge, Co. Kildare, 2009. The Bacon family lived here in 1911
© Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
Bacon's birthplace, 63 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Francis Bacon and his mother, c.1912
© Courtesy The Estate of Francis Bacon and the Knott family
The artist's father, Eddy Bacon leading in a winner, 'Repeater II', at Punchestown Racecourse, Co. Kildare, 13 April 1910
© Courtesy The Estate of Francis Bacon and the Knott family
Francis Bacon outside Farmleigh, Abbeyleix, co. Laois, c.1924
© Courtesy The Estate of Francis Bacon and the Knott family
Francis Bacon, Three Studies for a Crucifixion, 1962
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Straffan Lodge, near Celbridge, Co. Kildare, 2009. The Bacon family moved there in 1921
Courtesy Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
Linton Hall, Herefordshire, date unknown. The Bacon family moved there in 1922
© Courtesy The Estate of Francis Bacon and the Knott family
Prescott House, Gotherington, Gloucestershire, 1926. The Bacon family moved there in 1924
© Courtesy The Estate of Francis Bacon and the Knott family
Eugène Atget, The Panthéon, 1924
Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program
Francis Bacon on the balcony of the Ritz Hotel, London, c.1927
© The Estate of Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, Watercolour, 1929
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Nicolas Poussin, The Massacre of the Innocents, 1628-29
© RMN-Grand Palais (domaine de Chantilly) / Harry Bréjat
Spread from article 'The 1930 Look in British Decoration' in The Studio magazine, August 1930, pp. 140–141
John Davies, Queensberry Mews, London, 2016. Bacon lived here between 1930 and 1933
© HENI Publishing
Francis Bacon, woollen rug, c.1929
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Helmar Lerski, Francis Bacon, 1929–1930
© Estate of Helmar Lerski, Museum Folkwang, Essen
Francis Bacon, Painting, c.1930
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Michel Archimbaud, Francis Bacon In Conversation with Michel Archimbaud, (London/New York: Phaidon Press, 2010) p. 157.
Roy de Maistre, Eric Hall, c.1935
© Caroline de Mestre Walker
David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), p. 68.
Francis Bacon, Crucifixion, 1933
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Exterior view of Sunderland House, 15th June 1904
Reproduced by permission of Historic England Archive
Roy de Maistre, Francis Bacon, 1930
© Caroline de Mestre Walker, Image courtesy of Deutscher and Hackett
Francis Bacon, Figures in a Garden, c.1935
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Bacon studio material, Sam Hunter, photograph of Bacon's source imagery, 1950 Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
©The Estate of Francis Bacon
Michel Archimbaud, Francis Bacon In Conversation with Michel Archimbaud, (London/New York: Phaidon Press, 2010), p. 151.
Francis Bacon, Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, 1944
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Francis Bacon, letter to Tate Gallery, [9th January 1959], Tate Gallery Cataloguing files
John Davies, former location of the Lefevre Gallery, 2015
© HENI Publishing
Villa Minerve, Monaco, 2011. Bacon moved there in 1947
© Majid Boustany MB Art Collection
Postcard (formerly belonging to Francis Bacon) of the Casino at Monte Carlo, c.1935
© Éditions S.E.P.T.
Bacon left for Monaco right after he had sold Painting 1946 to Erica Brausen for £200. Francis Bacon, Painting 1946, 1946
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Francis Bacon, Head I, 1948
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Michel Archimbaud, Francis Bacon in Conversation with Michel Archimbaud, (London/New York: Phaidon Press, 2010), p. 26.
John Davies, former location of the Hanover Gallery, 2016
© HENI Publishing
Bacon studio material, leaf from book, Eadweard Muybridge, The Human Figure in Motion, (Dover Publications: New York, 1955) Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
© The Estate of Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon quoted in The New Decade: 22 Painters and Sculptors, ed. Andrew Carnduff Ritchie, The Museum of Modern Art New York, 1955.
Francis Bacon, Study from the Human Body, 1949
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Bacon studio material, photograph of Peter Lacy mounted on a leaf torn from William S. Smith, History of Egyptian Sculpture and Painting in the Old Kingdom, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1949) Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
© The Estate of Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, Two Figures, 1953
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Bacon studio material, fragment from book, J. E. Burns, Adventures in Wildest Africa (London: W. Walker & Sons (n.d. 1949), 1949) Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
© The Estate of Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, Elephant Fording a River, 1952
© The Estate of Francis Bacon / Sotheby’s
Letter to Erica Brausen, 22nd May 1951, transcribed in Michael Peppiatt, Francis Bacon in the 1950s, (New Haven, Conn./London: Yale University Press, 2006), pp. 144–145.
Bacon studio material, John Deakin, Francis Bacon, c.1953 Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
Photo © John Deakin Archive, Source Clipping © The Estate of Francis Bacon
Bacon studio material, fragment of leaf, Sir John Rothenstein, 'Francis Bacon' in The Masters, No.71 (Paulton: Purnell & Sons, 1967), illustration no. 5, Lucian Freud, Portrait of Francis Bacon, 1952 Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
© The Estate of Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, Figure with Meat, 1954
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Bacon studio material, Francis Bacon and the Moroccan painter Ahmed Yacoubi in Tangier
© The Estate of Francis Bacon
Bacon as quoted in, Francis Bacon in the 1950s, (New Haven, Conn/London: Yale University Press, 2006), p. 40.
Francis Bacon, Study for Portrait of P. L. No.2, 1957
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Douglas Glass, Francis Bacon in his Battersea studio, 1957
© J.C.C.Glass
John Davies, Marlborough Fine Arts, 2015
© HENI Publishing
Bacon studio material, unknown photographer, polaroid of Francis Bacon, 1959 Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
© The Estate of Francis Bacon
Unknown photographer, Porthmeor Studios, c.1940s
Courtesy Borlase Smart John Wells Trust
Francis Bacon, Miss Muriel Belcher, 1959
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Perry Ogden, Francis Bacon's studio, 7 Reece Mews, London, 1998
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Perry Ogden, Francis Bacon's studio, 7 Reece Mews, London, 1998
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Bacon studio material, fragment, John Deakin, George Dyer in the Reece Mews studio, c.1965 Collection Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
Photo © John Deakin Archive, Source Clipping © The Estate of Francis Bacon
Perry Ogden, Francis Bacon's studio, 7 Reece Mews, London, 1998
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Bacon studio material, installation shot of Francis Bacon retrospective, Tate Gallery, London 1962 Collection Dublin City Art Gallery The Hugh Lane
© Tate, 2017
Cover of publication David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 1975)
Francis Bacon, Landscape near Malabata, Tangier, 1963
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Bacon studio material, John Deakin, George Dyer in front of a shop window, c.1960s Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
Photo © John Deakin Archive, Source Clipping © The Estate of Francis Bacon
Bacon studio material, John Deakin, Francis Bacon and George Dyer on the Orient Express Train to Athens, 1965 Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
Photo © John Deakin Archive, Source Clipping © The Estate of Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, Three Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer, 1963
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Cover of publication Ronald Alley and John Rothenstein, Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné and Documentation, (London: Thames & Hudson, 1964)
Bacon studio material, John Deakin, Francis Bacon and George Dyer on the Orient Express, 1965 Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
Photo © John Deakin Archive, Source Clipping © The Estate of Francis Bacon
Bacon studio material, Francis Bacon and George Dyer standing in front of the Erectheon, Acropolis, Athens, 1965 Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
© The Estate of Francis Bacon
Installation for ‘Francis Bacon: Paintings 1945-1964’ at Moderna Museet, Stockholm
© Photo: Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2017
Bacon studio material, strip of passport photographs of Francis Bacon, c.1960s Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
© The Estate of Francis Bacon
Bacon studio material, unknown photographer, Bacon with Jacques Duhamel, then French culture secretary, at the Grand Palais exhibition, Paris, 29th October 1971 Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
© The Estate of Francis Bacon
Bacon studio material, unknown photographer, Francis Bacon and his sister Ianthe Knott in front of Painting 1946, 1946, at the Grand Palais exhibition, Paris 1971
Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
© The Estate of Francis Bacon'
Francis Bacon, In Memory of George Dyer, 1971
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Cover of publication John Russell, Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 1971)
Francis Bacon at Marlborough Gallery, London, 1976
Photograph by John Minihan © University College Cork
Bacon studio material, Francis Bacon, John Edwards, c.1980s
Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
© The Estate of Francis Bacon
Edward Quinn, Francis Bacon in his studio in Paris, 1979
© edwardquinn.com
14 rue de Birague, Paris, 2013
© Majid Boustany, MB Art Collection
Francis Bacon, Three Studies for Self-Portrait, 1975, was painted at rue de Birague
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
John Minihan, Francis Bacon at Claude Bernard Gallery, rue des Beaux Arts, Paris, 1977
© University College Cork
Francis Bacon quoted in Michael Peppiatt, Francis Bacon: Studies for a Portrait - Essays and Interviews, (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2008), p. 262.
Bacon studio material, Edward Quinn, Francis Bacon with John Edwards in his studio with Carcass of Meat and Bird of Prey (finished 1980), 7 Reece Mews London S.W. 7, 1979
Photo Edward Quinn © edwardquinn.com Source Clipping © The Estate of Francis Bacon
Cover of publication Gilles Deleuze, Francis Bacon: Logique de la Sensation, (Paris: Editions de la Différence, 1981)
Francis Bacon, Sand Dune, 1981
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Letter from Francis Bacon on the occasion of his first Japanese exhibition, 13th April 1983
Courtesy of The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Bacon studio material, John Edwards, Brett Whiteley painting Bacon's portrait at Bacon's studio, 7 Reece Mews, October 1984 Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
© The Estate of Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon at Tate Gallery, London, for his own retrospective, London, 1985. In the background are his friends Denis Wirth Miller and Richard Chopping
Photograph by John Minihan © University College Cork
Installation shot of Francis Bacon retrospective at Tate Gallery, London, 1985
© Tate 2017
Francis Bacon, Diptych 1982-84: Study from the Human Body 1982-84; Study from the Human Body - from a Drawing by Ingres 1982, 1984
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Bacon studio material, Gilbert F. Lloyd, Francis Bacon at the Berlin Wall, March 1986 Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
Photo © Gilbert F. Lloyd, Source Clipping © The Estate of Francis Bacon
Cover of exhibition catalogue Francis Bacon, New Tretyakov Central House of Artists, Moscow, 1988
Michel Giniès, Bacon in My Mirror #6
© Michel Giniès, Paris, 2017
Richard Cork, Face to Face: Interviews with Artists, (London: Tate Publishing, 2015), p. 39
Francis Bacon, Study for Human Body, 1991
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Perry Ogden, 7 Reece Mews, staircase, 1998
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Francis Bacon, Self-Portrait, 1990
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Francis Bacon, Study of a Bull, 1991
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
Francis Bacon, 'Self Portrait', 1991-1992
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2018
1909
Born on 28 October in Dublin, 63 Lower Baggot Street.
1915
Moves to London where his father works at the Record Office for the Territorial Force during WWI.
Richard Cork, Face to Face Interviews with Artists, (London: Tate Publishing, 2015), p. 35.
Clip from Francis Bacon and the Brutality of Fact, dir. by Michael Blackwood, 1987 © Michael Blackwood Productions, www.michaelblackwoodproductions.com, 2017
1918
The Bacon family returns to Ireland but continues to move between Ireland and England, and within the two countries.
David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), p. 68.
1926–1929
Leaves home and travels to London, Berlin and Paris. Visits Pablo Picasso exhibition at the Chez Paul Rosenberg gallery in 1927.
David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), p. 186.
David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), pp. 34–35.
1929
Settles in London to become an interior designer.
1930
Initial encounter with the artist and mentor Roy de Maistre. Begins to concentrate more exclusively on painting.
Michel Archimbaud, Francis Bacon In Conversation with Michel Archimbaud, (London/New York: Phaidon Press, 2010), p. 21.
1932
Meets Eric Hall, partner and patron.
1933
First art world recognition for Crucifixion.
1934
Sets up Transition Gallery and exhibition in Sunderland House, Curzon Street.
1936
Rejected by the International Surrealist Exhibition.
Michel Archimbaud, Francis Bacon In Conversation with Michel Archimbaud, (London/New York: Phaidon Press, 2010), p. 128.
1937
Exhibits at 'Young British Painters' at Thos. Agnew & Sons. After that paints little and destroys most of his work until 1943.
1939–1943
Serves in the Red Cross and the ARP. Lives in London and Steep, Hampshire.
1944
Commits fully to painting.
1945
Breakthrough with Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, 1944, which is shown at Lefevre Gallery, London.
David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), p. 44.
1946
Stays mainly in Monaco for the next four years, where he starts painting on the unprimed side of the canvas.
David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), p. 51.
David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), p. 51.
1948
Signed by the newly opened Hanover Gallery. First commercial success.
David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), p. 71.
Clip from Francis Bacon and the Brutality of Fact, dir. by Michael Blackwood, 1987
© Michael Blackwood Productions, www.michaelblackwoodproductions.com, 2017
1949
Starts concentrating on the human figure.
David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), p. 63.
1950–1952
Travels to South Africa. Beginning of turbulent relationship with Peter Lacy in 1952.
1954
Represents Britain at Venice Biennale alongside Lucian Freud, Reg Butler and Ben Nicholson. Travels to Italy.
Francis Bacon, 'Francis Bacon: Matthew Smith - A Painter's Tribute', Matthew Smith: Paintings from 1909 to 1952, exhibition catalogue, (London: Tate Gallery, 1953), p. 12.
1956
Divides his time between London and Tangier until 1961 to be with Lacy. In Morocco he meets William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg.
1958
Leaves Hanover Gallery for Marlborough Fine Arts.
1959–1960
Lives briefly in St Ives, Cornwall.
1961
Moves to 7 Reece Mews, South Kensington, London, to live and work there for the rest of his life.
The BBC Southbank Show: The Life and Career of Francis Bacon, hosted by Melvyn Bragg, dir. David Hinton, 1985, 54 mins.
1962
Retrospective at Tate Gallery, which coincides with Lacy’s death. First interview with David Sylvester.
1963
Retrospective at Guggenheim Museum, New York. George Dyer, lover and muse, enters his life.
1964
First catalogue raisonné published by Ronald Alley and John Rothenstein.
1965
Travels to Athens on the Orient Express with George Dyer and John Deakin.
1965–1970
International success with shows in Hamburg, Stockholm, Dublin, Paris, London and New York.
David Sylvester, Looking Back at Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2001), p. 232.
1968
Travels to New York to attend the opening of his show at Marlborough-Gerson Gallery.
1971
Retrospective at Grand Palais, Paris. Death of George Dyer, in whose memory Bacon paints series of 'Black Triptychs'. Publication of John Russell’s monograph Francis Bacon.
David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), p. 76.
1974
Befriends John Edwards.
1975
Buys apartment in Paris, 14, rue de Birague.
Retrospective at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the first for a living artist.
Michel Archimbaud, Francis Bacon In Conversation with Michel Archimbaud, (London/New York: Phaidon Press, 2010), p. 168.
1977
Exhibition at Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris.
1981
First publication in French, of Gilles Deleuze, Francis Bacon Logique de la Sensation.
David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), p. 65.
1983
Exhibition at National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.
1985
Honoured with second retrospective at Tate Gallery.
David Sylvester, Interviews with Francis Bacon, (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), p. 166.
1986
Visits Berlin with John Edwards.
1988
Retrospective at New Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
1991
Last recorded interview with Richard Cork.
Richard Cork, Face to Face Interviews with Artists, (London: Tate Publishing, 2015), p. 39.
1992
Dies on 28 April in Madrid.
Michel Archimbaud, Francis Bacon In Conversation with Michel Archimbaud, (London/New York: Phaidon Press, 2010), p. 106.