Research Catalog

Francis Bacon : books and painting

Title
Francis Bacon : books and painting / edited by Didier Ottinger ; with texts by Didier Ottinger, Chris Stephens, Miguel Egaña, Michael Peppiatt, Catherine Howe ; translated from the French by Ruth Sharman.
Publication
  • New York, New York : Thames & Hudson, 2020.
  • ©2019

Items in the Library & Off-site

Filter by

1 Item

StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
Request for On-site UseRequest Scan

Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.

TextUse in library JQG 20-573Schwarzman Building - Art & Architecture Room 300

Details

Additional Authors
  • Ottinger, Didier
  • Stephens, Chris (Art museum curator)
  • Egaña, Miguel
  • Peppiatt, Michael
  • Howe, Catherine
  • Sharman, Ruth Verity
  • Hiddleston-Galloni, Anna
  • Bacon, Francis, 1909-1992.
  • Bacon, Francis, 1909-1992
  • Thames and Hudson, publisher
  • Centre Georges Pompidou, host institution
Description
241 pages (some folded) : illustrations (chiefly color), portraits; 32 cm
Summary
  • "The many volumes in Francis Bacon's library reveal the artist's deep engagement with literature. His condensed statements in paint, so mesmerizing in their own right, often seem to echo telling phrases from the books he most admired. Among his favorite authors were Aeschylus, T.S. Eliot, Joseph Conrad, Friedrich Nietzsche, Michel Leiris, and Georges Bataille. Occasionally the titles of Bacon's paintings acknowledge a literary source--however, he consistently and vigorously resisted overinterpretation. His images take flight from their original literary source, owing more to a poetic or conceptual universe. Brought together here are five thought-provoking texts on Bacon's relationship with literature, a chronology of his life, and an inventory of the books found on Bacon's shelves after his death. Sixty of Bacon's paintings, including twelve triptychs presented across gatefolds, are reproduced with excerpts from the writings of the authors who inspired him."--
  • Published to accompany a major Francis Bacon retrospective in Paris, which will travel to the Fine Arts Museum, Houston, Francis Bacon analyzes Bacons works from 1971 onward in light of his relationship to literature. Bacon always vigorously opposed over analysis of his paintings, preferring to interpret them in purely illustrative or symbolic terms; he admitted, however, that literature was a powerful stimulus to his imagination. The artist was inspired by the images conjured up by certain texts: Aeschyluss phrase "the reek of human blood smiles out at me" particularly haunted Bacon, while his 1978 work Painting refers to T. S. Eliots seminal poem The Waste Land. An inventory of Bacons personal library has identified more than 1,300 books, ranging from Georges Bataille and Joseph Conrad to Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Leiris. Including twelve of Bacons renowned triptychs, this lavish publication features eleven gatefolds and some sixty paintings created by Bacon between 1971 and his death in 1992. Reproduced here with analyses of Bacons paintings in the light of some of his most admired authors, these specially commissioned texts reveal new ways of understanding some of the most powerful works in the modern canon.
Alternative Title
  • Books and painting
  • Bacon, en toutes lettres.
Subjects
Genre/Form
  • Bibliographies.
  • Criticism, interpretation, etc.
  • Essays.
  • Exhibition catalogs.
  • Illustrated works.
Note
  • Published on the occasion of the exhibition "Bacon. En toutes lettres" held at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, September 11, 2019-January 20, 2020.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Language (note)
  • Text in English, with translations from the French.
Contents
Bacon spelled out / Didier Ottinger -- Paintings -- Joseph Conrad, T. S. Eliot, Georges Bataille, Friedrich Nietzsche, Aeschylus, Michel Leiris -- Paintings -- Watching death at work: the iconography of Francis Bacon's late work / Chris Stephens -- Gilles Deleuze 'over Francis Bacon's shoulder' / Miguel Egaña -- Francis Bacon and William Shakespeare / Michael Peppiatt -- Textual transgressions: Francis Bacon's French legacy / Catherine Howe -- Francis Bacon's libraries -- Chronology / Anna Hiddleston-Galloni -- List of works in the exhibition.
Call Number
JQG 20-573
ISBN
  • 9780500239988
  • 0500239983
LCCN
2019940653
OCLC
1138560501
Title
Francis Bacon : books and painting / edited by Didier Ottinger ; with texts by Didier Ottinger, Chris Stephens, Miguel Egaña, Michael Peppiatt, Catherine Howe ; translated from the French by Ruth Sharman.
Publisher
New York, New York : Thames & Hudson, 2020.
Copyright Date
©2019
Edition
[First American edition].
Type of Content
text
still image
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Event
"Bacon. En toutes lettres" : September 11, 2019-January 20, 2020, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France.
Language
Text in English, with translations from the French.
Chronological Term
1900-1999
Place of Publication
United States New York (State) New York.
Added Author
Ottinger, Didier, editor, author.
Stephens, Chris (Art museum curator), author.
Egaña, Miguel, author.
Peppiatt, Michael, author.
Howe, Catherine, author.
Sharman, Ruth Verity, translator.
Hiddleston-Galloni, Anna, contributor.
Bacon, Francis, 1909-1992. Paintings. Selections.
Bacon, Francis, 1909-1992, artist, painter.
Thames and Hudson, publisher.
Centre Georges Pompidou, host institution.
Added Title
Bacon, en toutes lettres.
Research Call Number
JQG 20-573
View in Legacy Catalog