Francis Bacon

Markus Rath

ISBN 10: 3422801812 / ISBN 13: 9783422801813

Published by De Gruyter, DE, 2024

About this Item

Francis Bacon's portrait of his first partner Peter Lacy is somehow simultaneously attractive and repulsive. The monumental portrait dating from 1962 was unknown to the public for a long time. Shortly after it was painted, Italian film director Michelangelo Antonioni acquired the work and it remained in private hands for decades. This is a key work, created at a turning point in Bacon's oeuvre. Markus Rath embeds the painting into Bacon's visual world for the first time. The English painter reveals a biographical figuration in the portrait, concentrating his compositional arrangement on the stage-like interior and forcing a contrast between the two-dimensional ground and the colour-saturated figure - these are pioneering approaches to composition that shaped his late work decisively.

Seller Inventory # LU-9783422801813

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Francis Bacon
• Publisher: De Gruyter, DE
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3422801812
• ISBN 13: 9783422801813
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 224 grams

About this title

Synopsis

(English / German)
Francis Bacon’s portrait of his first partner Peter Lacy is somehow simultaneously attractive and repulsive. The monumental portrait dating from 1962 was unknown to the public for a long time. Shortly after it was painted, Italian film director Michelangelo Antonioni acquired the work and it remained in private hands for decades. This is a key work, created at a turning point in Bacon’s oeuvre. Markus Rath embeds the painting into Bacon’s visual world for the first time. The English painter reveals a biographically oriented representationalism in the portrait, concentrating his compositional arrangement on the stage-like interior and forcing a contrast between the two-dimensional ground and the colour-saturated figure – these are pioneering approaches to composition that shaped his late work decisively.

Anziehend und abstoßend zugleich ist Francis Bacons Bildnis seines ersten Lebenspartners Peter Lacy. Das monumentale "Portrait" aus dem Jahr 1962 war lange Zeit vor der Öffentlichkeit verborgen. Kurz nach seiner Entstehung erwarb es der italienische Regisseur Michelangelo Antonioni und es blieb jahrzehntelang in Privatbesitz. Dabei entpuppt es sich als ein Schlüsselwerk, das an einem Wendepunkt entstand. Markus Rath führt erstmals diese Stränge zusammen und bettet das Gemälde in Bacons Bildwelt ein. Der englische Maler bekennt sich darin zu einer biografisch orientierten Gegenständlichkeit, konzentriert sein kompositorisches Schema auf den bühnenartigen Innenraum und forciert den Kontrast zwischen flächigem Grund und farbgesättigter Figur – wegweisende kompositorische Verfahren, die sein Spätwerk entscheidend prägen sollten.

About the Author

Markus Rath, University of Trier.