Francis Bacon Peppiatt, Michael

An outstanding and authoritative biography of one of Britain''s greatest masters.

From the Publisher:
Francis Bacon was one of the most powerful and enigmatic creative geniuses of the twentieth century. Immediately recognizable, his paintings continue to challenge interpretations and provoke controversy. Bacon was also an extraordinary personality. Generous but cruel, forthright yet manipulative, ebullient but in despair: He was the sum of his contradictions. This life, lived at extremes, was filled with achievement and triumph, misfortune and personal tragedy.

In his revised and updated edition of an already brilliant biography, Michael Peppiatt has drawn on fresh material that has become available in the sixteen years since the artist's death. Most important, he includes confidential material given to him by Bacon but omitted from the first edition. Francis Bacon derives from the hundreds of occasions Bacon and Peppiatt sat conversing, often late into the night, over many years, and particularly when Bacon was working in Paris. We are also given insight into Bacon's intimate relationships, his artistic convictions and views on life, as well as his often acerbic comments on his contemporaries.

Praise

Kirkus Reviews
"Peppiatt stalks and bags elusive prey: a better understanding of a disturbing body of work by a man who lived inscrutably, in purposeful chaos." 04/01/1997

Times Literary Supplement
"The two lurid biographies which appeared shortly after Bacon's death are now joined by a much more substantial book.... To separate the work from the life, the life from the legend, may be impossible for many years ahead." - Timothy Hyman 04/04/1997

Civilization
"On the fundamental facts of Bacon's family lore, upbringing and adult milieu, Peppiatt writes with authority." - Robert Storr August 1997

Salon
"Given the details Peppiatt makes public here, we can be grateful that he hasn't written a sensationalistic book, though many of the details are juicy....Peppiatt does an admirable job of laying out the facts of Bacon's life, and a superb job of painting a portrait of the man with both affection and perspective. But the facts cannot alone account for the shock and the mystery of Bacon's work. Peppiatt's real accomplishment is that he makes you feel Bacon as a living presence." - Charles Taylor 09/16/1997

New York Times Book Review
"...[P]leasurable reading on the whole....He gives a good account of Bacon's early career in London....His book is also enriched by echoes...of the many tributes to Bacon that were printed after his death." - John Russell 07/27/1997

Literary Review
"[Peppiatt] writes well, thinks sanely, is painstaking and accurate with detail." - Gilbert de Botton December 1996

Los Angeles Times Book Review
"[A] balanced, intelligent book..." - Nicholas Fox Weber 07/27/1997

BloomReach Content

Francis Bacon Anatomy of an Enigma (Paperback)

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