ABOUT FRANCIS BACON

The art of Francis Bacon (1909–1992) epitomizes the angst at the heart of the modern human condition. His dramatic images of screaming figures and distorted anatomies are painted with a richly gestural technique, alluding to such Old Masters as Titian, Velázquez and Rembrandt. Displaying repressed and raw emotion, his body of work includes portraits of Lucian Freud and John Deakin.

ABOUT PHAIDON FOCUS

These well-illustrated, short introductory books cover the full span of an artist’s work, exploring its origins, development, style, themes, meanings and media.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Martin Hammer is the author of two important scholarly books on the artist, Bacon and Sutherland (2005) and Francis Bacon and Nazi Propaganda (2012). He also curated the exhibition ‘The Naked Portrait’ at the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh in 2007. He is Professor of History and Philosophy of Art at the University of Kent.