Which portrait by the 17th century Spanish master Velázquez inspired one of Bacon's most celebrated works? And why is his painting Two Figures considered a groundbreaking image? Join Alastair and James as they chart Bacon's life and work in the decades after the Second World War.
Artworks in this episode include:
Francis Bacon, Head VI, 1949, Arts Council Collection, London
Francis Bacon, Painting 1946, 1946, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Francis Bacon, Portrait of Lucian Freud, 1951, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
Lucian Freud, Portrait of Francis Bacon, 1952
Francis Bacon, Head I, 1949, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Francis Bacon, Head II, 1949, Ulster Museum, Belfast
Francis Bacon, Head III, 1949, Private Collection
Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas, 1656, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
Diego Velázquez, Portrait of Innocent X, 1650, Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome
Francis Bacon, Man in Blue I, 1954, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Francis Bacon, Two Figures, 1953, Private Collection
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Hosts: Alastair Sooke and Dr James Fox
Additional Research: Catherine Ingram
Producer and Editor: Ben Harding
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac
Chapters
- 00:00:00 Introduction: Head VI
- 00:02:43 Painting 1946: Consolidating Success
- 00:09:13 Meaning in Bacon's Art
- 00:11:47 Graham Sutherland and Erica Brausen
- 00:13:44 Monte Carlo: Gambling and Drift
- 00:19:04 Lucian Freud: An Intense Friendship
- 00:26:00 The 1949 Hanover Gallery Show
- 00:30:59 Velázquez's Pope Innocent X
- 00:35:25 Head VI
- 00:42:02 Peter Lacy: The Love of His Life
- 00:51:54 The Tate Retrospective and Tragedy