Customer Reviews

Francis Bacon

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Yes its true, this a reprint of a much more impressive book....and without reservation get that one, not this foggy weak shadow of the original.When I opened the package containing this book I was excited about a supposed new and improved Bacon book , minutes later the book was back in the package and returned. This reprint is NOT AS GOOD AS ITS ORIGINAL, I would say the print job is quite muddy compared to the 1983 version...so buy that one, it is still available...this is solid advice from a serious Bacon enthusiast, heed it .

Like many biographies, Russell's work concentrates more on the man's times than on the man himself. While we learn a lot about what was going on around Bacon, what he himself experienced is left unexplored. Granted, Bacon made gathering biographical information very difficult, but I would have appreciated more insightful analysis of Bacon's life and its connections to his work. Overall it is a very good introduction to Bacon's career and total output, and includes a huge number of pictures that make the book extremely valuable as a reference. Unfortunately though, while there are many color reproductions, they are outnumbered by black and white ones that take away from truly experiencing the power of Bacon's work.

This book on Francis Bacon is out of print but the good people at Amazon.com can help you find it. And if you love Francis Bacon then this book is a MUST for your library. Well written and gorgeous to view, this book more than most shows the less known works of the British genius of psychologically laden painting. The handsome book was a catalogue for the Smithsonian Institution exhibition in 1989 and 1990, before Bacon died. As for a collection of the master's best, look no further.

I absolutely agree with Kevin J. Mcfarland's comment: the reproductions in this book are of a very shoddy quality. A lot - not all of them but probably more than half - are out of focus (they honestly seem like blown-up copies of the images in the original). The color is also quite bad. Stay away from this book unless you're buying it for the essay. And publisher - this is an embarrassment.

Though many reviewers and critics of this new edition of a 1983 book published in Spanish by the same name and by the same author are angry with the presentation of the Bacon paintings included, the simple fact that Michel Leiris' fine essay on Bacon, possibly the finest ever written, is once again available to the public more than makes up for the quality of the reproductions of the art. Leiris was in many ways Bacon's confidant, a man and a writer with whom Bacon shared his inner most feelings and life and stimuli for the paintings he created. Leiris writes with a quiet authority, with an immensely readable style, and offers more information about the real Francis Bacon than others - and the list of Bacon authorities grows all the time.

In this hardcover edition there is a quotation as a frontispiece that bears repeating. Georg Büchner: 'In everything I demand that there should be life, the possibility of existence, and then all is well; we are not then called upon to ask whether the work is beautiful or ugly. The feeling that what has been created has life comes before either consideration and is the only criterion in matters of art.' This, from the creator of 'Woyzeck'. After Leiris elegant essay the book contains a large number of Bacon's canvases. Even with less than perfect reproduction these works seem to take on new meaning, reflecting the information in Leiris' words.

This particular reincarnation of the 1983 book includes a full chronology of Bacon's life, a list of all the interviews recorded and a very complete bibliography that includes catalogues from exhibitions and an updated listing of all the public collections of the artist's works. Despite the flaws of production this book is well worth owning, especially since the Leiris essay is not otherwise available. Grady Harp, July 09

John Russell wrote this "biography" while Francis Bacon was very much alive and tends to emphasize the influences on Bacon's work more from an environmental standpoint than an art historian view. But to jump into Bacon's raucous life "in medias res" is a gift that now can be savoured, like picking the grapes off the vines that in years to come will become a fine vintage wine. A diversion, and only in black and white reproductions, but a rather important comment in retrospect.

Well i really think that Francis Bacon is a great artist. I just stratid reading about his art work and he has so many goos drawings like Henrretta Moraes, and his selft portrait. They are veri nice drawings.So i really think his greatt.