7 Reece Mews

Perry Ogden

ISBN 10: 0500510342 / ISBN 13: 9780500510346

Published by Thames and Hudson Ltd, GB, 2001

About this Item

7 Reece Mews, South Kensington, was Francis Bacon's home and studio for over thirty years. After he died in 1992, access was granted to award-winning photographer Perry Ogden to work undisturbed for days on end to produce this riveting record of the house and its contents. He captured every part of the small building's hidden interior: the rickety wooden staircase; the kitchen with its 'gallery' of Bacon works in reproduction; the bedsitting room with its bookcases piled high. In the studio itself, thirty years of inspired artistic endeavour had accumulated unchecked: the slashed, discarded canvases scattered across the floor; the brushes, rags and tins encrusted with layer upon layer of paint; the surfaces used as impromptu palettes; the last unfinished self-portrait on the easel. For some, Bacon's studio was an heroic statement, a work of art in its own right, constructed to distil and give form to his aesthetic intentions. In this astonishing book we are invited to take an intimate and privileged look around his private space, and to gain unrivalled insights into how, why and what he painted.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780500510346

Bibliographic Details

• Title: 7 Reece Mews
• Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd, GB
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500510342
• ISBN 13: 9780500510346
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 580 grams

About this title

Synopsis

One of the most powerful painters of our age, Francis Bacon lived and worked for the last thirty years of his life in a modest building in London's South Kensington. After he died in 1992, access was granted to award-winning photographer Perry Ogden to work undisturbed for days on end to produce this riveting record of the house and its contents. In the studio itself, thirty years of inspired artistic endeavor had accumulated unchecked: the slashed and discarded canvases scattered across the floor; the brushes, rags, and tins encrusted with paint; the doors and walls used as impromptu palettes; the piles of photographs of friends and models; the crumpled and torn pages of magazines and books that served as a stimulus for Bacon's work; the notes, sketches, and ideas for paintings jotted down and then cast aside; the last unfinished self-portrait on the easel. For some of those close to Bacon, the studio was a heroic statement, a work of art in its own right, secretly constructed over many years to distill and give form to his aesthetic intentions. Now in this astonishing book we are invited to take a privileged look around this private space, to become intimate witnesses to the amazing conditions in which Bacon lived and worked, to gain unrivaled insights into how, why, and what he painted. 60 color photographs.

Reviews

Documenting the painter's London live/ work space as he left it, 7 Reece Mews: Francis Bacon's Studio lovingly takes stock of the late Irish artist's stacked canvases, crushed paint tubes, shelves of books, bust of Blake, on-the-wall color tests and stacks of assorted ephemera as he left them in 1992. Irish photographer Perry Ogden took the 60 carefully framed color photos here, and Bacon's companion John Edwards contributes an introductory essay. The studio has since been painstakingly packed up and shipped to Dublin's Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.