Francis Bacon: Five Decades

This decade-by-decade exploration of Francis Bacon's paintings draws insightful parallels between the artist's personal life and the thematic evolution of his oeuvre. In the 1940s Francis Bacon achieved a creative breakthrough that would propel his work until his death in 1992. This generously illustrated monograph opens with the fecund period, then traces subsequent periods of exceptional artistic output, decade by decade, through the end of Bacon's career. Gorgeous color illustrations allow readers to study the artist's darkly expressive palette and powerful imagery through his series of screaming popes, portraits of friends, mourning triptychs, scenes from Greek mythology, and, finally, self-portraits inspired by an awareness of his own mortality. Thought-provoking essays provide further insight into Bacon's world both within and without the studio. The volume includes a wide range of photographs and archival material to round out this penetrating study of one of the most visceral-and influential-artists of his generation.