Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909 to parents of English descent. In Bacons early years his family frequently moved between England and Ireland, not settling in any place for very long. In 1924 Bacon was sent to boarding school in Cheltenham. It was not an enjoyable experience for the youngster who left the school before he was expelled. In 1926 he moved to London, living off a small allowance of £3 a week and supplementing his income on occasion by rent dodging and petty theft. In 1927 Bacon spent two months in Berlin and then journeyed to Paris. He spent the next year and a half there, visiting museums and galleries which inspired him to take up painting. Upon his return to London he established himself as an interior designer and in 1930 Bacon held an exhibition of five paintings and four rugs at his studio. Thereafter he turned increasingly to painting but it was another three years before his first significant paintings were exhibited, in two group shows at the Mayor Gallery, London, in 1933. At the onset of the Second World War Bacon was declared as unfit for military service and so he remained in London during these years. His Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1944; Tate collection) was exhibited at the Lefevre Gallery in 1945 and effectively established his post-war reputation. Bacon viewed it as his first mature work and went about destroying as much as he could of his earlier works. In 1949 the Hanover Gallery, London staged the first one man exhibition of Francis Bacons paintings. Even at this early stage in his career Bacons international reputation was rapidly growing. The Museum of Modern Art in New York bought a work by the artist in 1948 .In 1953 and 1957 he had one-man shows in New York and Paris. In 1954 he also received major official recognition, representing Britain at the Venice Biennale together with Lucian Freud and Ben Nicholson. The first retrospective of the artists work was held by the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London in 1955. A major retrospective of Bacons works was held in the Grand Palais, Paris in 1971 but the event was marred by tragedy as Bacons partner, George Dyer, died tragically on the eve of the opening. In the 1970s the Metropolitan Museum of Art mounted an exhibition of Bacons recent works, another great achievement for him as it was the first time that works by a contemporary British artist had been shown by the museum. Bacon died whilst visiting a friend in Madrid in 1992. He was internationally the most acclaimed British painter of the twentieth century.
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'TRIPTYCH, 1983-84'
- Price Realised: 44,000
- Sale: 28 September 2020
- lithograph; (3); (no. 98 from an edition of 180)
- 26Ό x 19½in. (66.68 x 49.53cm)
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'SECOND VERSION OF TRIPTYCH, 1989'
- Price Realised: 28,000
- Sale: 25 February 2008
- lithographs (no. 2 from an edition of 60)
- 62 by 46cm., 24.5 by 18in.
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'STUDY FOR PORTRAIT OF POPE INNOCENT X, 1989'
- Price Realised: 25,000
- Sale: 21 May 2012
- lithograph in colour; (ιpreuve d'artiste, artist's proof)
- 37.5 by 27in., 95.25 by 68.58cm.
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'METROPOLITAN TRIPTYCH, 1981'
- Price Realised: 20,000
- Sale: 29 May 2023
- etching with aquatint printed in colours on Guarro wove paper; (3 on one sheet); (no. 3 from an edition of 15 artist's proofs, total edition of 95)
- 15 x 24½in. (38.10 x 62.23cm)
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'THREE STUDIES FOR A SELF PORTRAIT, 1979'
- Price Realised: 20,000
- Sale: 17 September 2007
- lithograph (no. 138 from and edition of 150)
- 47 by 103cm., 18.5 by 40.5in.
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'THREE STUDIES FOR A SELF PORTRAIT, 1979'
- Price Realised: 16,000
- Sale: 30 November 2009
- lithograph (no. 138 from and edition of 150)
- 47 by 103cm., 18.5 by 40.5in.
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'TRIPTYCH, 1983-84'
- Price Realised: 16,000
- Sale: 30 November 2009
- lithographs (no. 98 from an edition of 180)
- 67 by 50cm., 26.2 5 by 19.5in.
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'THREE STUDIES OF MALE BACK, 1987'
- Price Realised: 14,000
- Sale: 31 May 2010
- lithograph
- 60 by 45cm., 23.75 by 17.75in.
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'OEDIPUS AND THE SPHINX AFTER INGRES, 1983/84'
- Price Realised: 7,600
- Sale: 29 November 2010
- lithograph on Arches paper (no. 42 from an edition of 150)
- 117 by 85cm., 46 by 33.5in.
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'RIGHT PANEL OF THREE STUDIES FOR A PORTRAIT OF JOHN EDWARDS, 1986'
- Price Realised: 5,000
- Sale: 29 September 2008
- lithograph in colours on Arches paper (no. 135 from an edition of 150)
- 60 by 45cm., 23.7 5 by 17.7 5i
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'STUDY FOR A PORTRAIT OF JOHN EDWARDS, 1987'
- Price Realised: 4,600
- Sale: 21 May 2012
- lithograph in colour; (no. 145 from an edition of 180)
- 26.75 by 20in., 67.945 by 50.8cm.
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'[LYING FIGURE, 1966] EXHIBITION POSTER, 1983'
- Price Realised: 1,800
- Sale: 09 December 2018
- 28 x 20in. (71.12 x 50.80cm)
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'CHATEAU MOUTON ROTHSCHILD, PAUILLAC WINE LABEL, 1990'
- Price Realised: 1,450
- Sale: 30 November 2009
- lithograph print (printer's proof)
- 25 by 17cm., 9.75 by 6.75in.
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'LYING FIGURE, 1983 [EXHIBITION POSTER]'
- Price Realised: 300
- Sale: 17 October 2022
- poster
- 27½ x 17in. (69.85 x 43.18cm)