Featuring works from the 1950s onwards this book explores Francis Bacon's deep connection to
portraiture and how he challenged traditional definitions of the genre. From his responses to
portraiture by earlier artists to large-scale paintings memorialising lost lovers works from
private and public collections will showcase Bacon's life story. As well as the artist's
self-portraits sitters include Lucian Freud Isabel Rawsthorne and lovers Peter Lacy and
George Dyer. The first publication in over 20 years dedicated to the portraits of Francis Bacon
this book accompanies the exhibition of the same name opening at the National Portrait Gallery
London in October 2024. From his renowned triptychs and paintings of ghostly figures to
tender and psychologically revealing individual portraits the figurative works displayed in
this publication chart the development of a groundbreaking artist highlighting the influence
of his peers and other artists. Edited and with introductory texts by National Portrait Gallery
curator Rosie Broadley Francis Bacon: Portraits also features biographies and photographs of
Bacon and his circle bringing lesser-told stories to the fore. A series of short essays from a
range of contemporary thinkers and experts on Bacon explore the individuality of the artist
through different lenses providing fresh perspectives on the artist his portraits and his
world.
