The third and final instalment in the Bacon Estate’s groundbreaking series discloses andanalyses the most exciting new research and information to emerge in many years onthis elusive artist. Three of the essays, by Francesca Pipe, Sophie Pretorius and MartinHarrison, are based on archives recently added to the collection of the Estate of FrancisBacon. Very little is known about Bacon’s early career, and the diaries of his twofirst patrons provide a far deeper understanding of his formative years than has beenaccessible hitherto. Especially revelatory are the extensive records kept over a long periodby Bacon’s doctor, Paul Brass: what they reveal will revolutionise thinking on Bacon.
Sarah Whitfield sheds new light on both Bonnard and Bacon; she has identifiedconcerns the two artists shared that will surprise as well as enlighten. KatharinaGünther’s essay examines the complex interplay between Bacon and his closestfriend, the artist Denis Wirth Miller, as men but principally as artists. Joyce Townsenddraws on her scientific and technical investigations into Tate’s most important Baconpaintings to advance significant new information about Bacon’s methods. ChristopherBucklow is an expert on Japanese art, which forms an important, if unexpected, aspectof his rethinking of the metaphor system in Bacon’s paintings.
