Customer Reviews

Bacon Portraits and Self Portraits

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Francis Bacon jolted the art world in a way that is only now, some nine years after his death, being fully appreciated. During the final years of his bizarre life he achieved fame and museum acceptance and the accompanying high figure prices for his canvases. And of course soon after his death there was the usual debate about whether he was a painter or a one note song. This beautifully presented volume seems to dispell the latter, as here is documentation of all the head-only portraits Bacon painted of his friends and of himself. His usual "brutal vision" seems less forced when the paintings are accompanied by photogrphs of the models: some of Bacon's friends were fairly distorted before his brush hit the canvas! This book allows the reader to examine a narrow part of Bacon's output and in doing so focuses keenly on his view of the world, his pallete and his technique. Very fine essays by Milan Kundera and France Borel enhance this sensitive tribute to one of the more important 20th Century figurative painters.

I have wanted this book for years. It's now out of print and has become a collector's item. I thought it was out of my reach to ever own. I found this pristine copy here, missing only the dust cover, otherwise perfect. As a painter myself, it was a book I wanted, to study Bacon's style and composition. I'm so glad I have it.

If you want great reproductions of Bacon's portraits and self portraits in a nice format (11.8 x 9.6 x 1 inches), that's the one! there's more than 200 plates that covers is life, plus a few folds, and upclose details all in colors and finally two essays (by Milan Kundera and France Borel). Great buy!

For those of you who have spent considerable time reading about the Templars, Illuminatus, Masons, et. al. then this book would be of no shock to you. Francis Bacon in the disquise of an artist, in the disquise of the painted. The art itself lends itself to the greater mystery, and as such is a must have for any enthusiast.