Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Francis Bacon (1909-92) speaks openly to his close friend Michel Archimbaud, whose searching questions shed a new light on Bacon's work. The discussion is wide-ranging, touching on painting, literature and music, with candid revelations about Bacon's childhood, his relationship with his father, his friends and the influences that have shaped his art.
The conversation is punctuated with revealing and sometimes disparaging remarks about a whole host of artists, including, among others, Rubens, Blake, Monet, C zanne, Picasso, Balthus, Giacometti, Shakespeare and Baudelaire. A most alluring volume on account of its combination of incisive interviews with the painter and extensive images of his studio, Francis Bacon exposes the man behind the myth in a subtle and sensitive manner. The text is both perfectly accessible and intellectually scintillating for anyone, no matter how familiar with the artist and his work.
These interviews can be regarded as Bacon's final vision, as they took place in the artist's studio in Paris between October 1991 and April 1992, shortly before he died. This edition is unique not only in the rarity of the material that it reveals but, moreover, in the distinctly down-to-earth and human outlook it adopts. This book embodies an unparalleled achievement as it succeeds in penetrating beyond the elusive, enigmatic and eccentric persona of artist.
Synopsis
Francis Bacon, a self-taught painter, became one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century. Here he speaks openly to his close friend Michel Archimbaud who sets out to discover the man behind the paintings. His searching questions shed a new light on Bacon's work in spite of his claim that he finds it impossible to talk about his painting. He talks candidly about his childhood, his relationship with his father, his friends and the influences which have shaped his art. The discussion is wide-ranging, touching on painting, literature and music. The interviews are punctuated with Bacon's revealing and sometimes disparaging remarks about a whole host of artists including amongst others Rubens, Blake, Monet, Cezanne, Picasso, Balthus, Giacometti, Shakespeare, Baudelaire, Wagner, Debussy and Schonberg. These interviews, conducted in French, took place in Bacon's studio between October 1991 and April 1992. They were to continue in Paris following Bacon's trip to Madrid, but he died in Madrid on 28 April 1992. As such these conversations can be seen as his last recorded thoughts.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [184]-185).