Christopher Bucklow

The Estate of Francis Bacon published the five-volume catalogue raisonne of Bacon's paintings in 2016. In line with its intention to facilitate original research and writing on Bacon, The Estate will launch a series of books, 'Francis Bacon Studies', in 2019. Three titles are currently in production, the first of which, 'Bacon and the Mind', will be published in May 2019. The five authors of Bacon and the Mind are all prominent scholars in their various disciplines. Their original perspectives on Bacon illuminate his art and his motivations, and they open up new ways of understanding his paintings.

Art, Neuroscience and Psychology

Bacon and the Mind

Martin Harrison

The latest book in the acclaimed Francis Bacon Studies series, this volume explores little-known aspects of Bacon’s life and work and includes never before published paintings by the artist. Francis Bacon: Shadows continues in the revelatory mode established by Inside Francis Bacon. It comprises six essays on diverse topics, interpretative as well as factual, which cumulatively present an abundance of fresh ideas and information about Bacon. The fundamental aim of the series—to rethink Bacon’s art from new perspectives—is impressively fulfilled by the eminent authors. Martin Harrison opens the book with some hitherto unseen Bacon-related photographs and includes a tribute to the great Bacon scholar, David Boxer (1946–2017). Christopher Bucklow turns his attention to the contrast between Bacon’s art and the art of our own times, setting Bacon in the context of Romantic Modernism’s confidence in the unconscious as a source. Amanda Harrison’s essay explores imagery in Bacon’s paintings that relates to esoteric, mythological, and alchemical themes, while Stefan Haus draws on the ideas of philosophers from Plato to Hegel to consider the impact of Bacon’s art. Hugh Davies’s unexpurgated 1973 Bacon Diaries are published here in their entirety for the first time, revealing a more complete view of Bacon as both man and artist. Sophie Pretorius examines Tate’s Barry Joule Archive, a collection of working materials and drawings attributed to Bacon. Finally, Martin Harrison explores Francis Bacon’s Lost Paintings—works Bacon dubbed “failures” but which were photographed before he destroyed them; they are published here for the very first time.

Francis Bacon: Shadows

"This book examines the coherent structure of the 'world' that Guston created. It offers, for the first time, a comprehensive account of how his symbolism operated and what it was intended to do." -- Inside front cover.

Christopher Bucklow

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