Francis Bacon: Human Presence

Featuring works from the 1950s onwards, this book explores Francis Bacon’s deep connection to portraiture and how he challenged traditional definitions of the genre.

From his responses to portraiture by earlier artists, to large-scale paintings memorialising lost lovers, works from private and public collections will showcase Bacon’s life story. As well as the artist’s self-portraits, sitters include Lucian Freud, Isabel Rawsthorne and lovers Peter Lacy and George Dyer.

The first publication in over 20 years dedicated to the portraits of Francis Bacon, this book accompanied the exhibition of the same name at the National Portrait Gallery, London, in 2024. 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.

Published by National Portrait Gallery

Paperback

Format: 290 x 230 mm

Pages: 224

Illustrations: 130 images approx