The Foundation produces or supports short films on Francis Bacon, including interviews and documentaries. It also takes part in features related to the British artist.
Foundation interviews
These exclusive interviews with artists, photographers and friends who rubbed shoulders with Francis Bacon offer unique insights into his life and work. Directed and produced by the Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation, they are conducted by Garry Scott-Irvine in the intimacy of their studio or home.
Paul Brass
Bacon's Doctor
Jane Birkin
Actress & Singer
Maggi Hambling
Artist
John Pelling
Artist
John Minihan
Photographer
Clare Shenstone
Artist
Films produced or supported by the Foundation
Bacon: the Van Gogh Sequence
Produced by the Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation in 2020
Directed by Alain Amiel
In 1957, in the middle of a transition period in his life, Francis Bacon produced a series of paintings inspired by Van Gogh’s The Painter on the Road to Tarascon. This series marks a turning point in his work, radically changing his palette. Pure, bright, vivid colours erupt on the canvas. The application of short thick strokes contrasts with his previous works.
Francis Bacon/Ernest Pignon-Ernest: Exchanges
Produced by the Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation in 2022
Directed by Alain Amiel
On 27 September 1987, when Libération journalist Henri-François Debailleux asked Francis Bacon if he was interested in contemporary art, and that of France in particular, the British artist responded: “A few years ago I saw some photos by a French artist, Ernest Pignon- Ernest, who was making drawings on walls, and I found that very interesting.”
In this documentary, Pignon-Ernest discusses his passion for Bacon and talks about the themes common to the work of both.
In interviews, Jean Frémon, director of the Galerie Lelong, who has exhibited both artists, Yves Peyré and Frank Maubert, writers and friends of Bacon, and Libération art critic Henri- François Debailleux discuss the resonances they perceive between the two artists, and the works that connect them.
CONNEXIONS: BACON - VÉLASQUEZ
Produced by France Televisions in 2020
Directed by Annie Dautane & Eve Ramboz
This documentary was supported by the Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation.
One of Francis Bacon’s greatest obsessions was a painting from 1650: Diego Velazquez’ Portrait of Pope Innocent X. The encounter with the portrait of Innocent X is one of the events that helped to construct the mythical account of the life of Francis Bacon. Between 1949 and 1971, Bacon painted 45 popes... all after the famous portrait of Velázquez. “I wanted to paint the scream”, said Bacon. However, in Velazquez’ version, the Pope isn’t screaming.
This documentary was first broadcast on 27 November 2021 on France 5 channel.
Films featuring the Foundation
Invitation au Voyage 'Francis Bacon in Monaco'
Produced by Arte France in 2021
Directed by Anne Fonteneau
The Foundation took part in a feature entitled ‘Francis Bacon in Monaco – pulling out all the stops’, broadcast on 9 June on Arte channel, as part of Invitation au Voyage, by suggesting to the film’s director, Anne Fonteneau, a selection of people to appear in the film, and by giving access to its premises, revealing a number of works from the collection. The film underlines the importance of the Principality of Monaco in both the life and work of the British painter who, over the course of almost fifty years, spent extended periods here. The documentary includes three instructive interviews: one with Cécilia Auber, the Foundation guide; another with Claude Valion, a consultant to the Foundation; and the third with the art critic Alain Amiel, who also directed the documentary Bacon: the Van Gogh Sequence, produced by the Foundation. They discuss the time Bacon spent in Monaco, the close link between gambling and Bacon’s painting, the working practice he initiated here, and the light and distinctive areas of flat colour found in his work.
Film clip
Francis Bacon: The Outsider
Produced by Mount Venus Productions, 2022
Directed by Karen McGrath
The Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation took part in a film produced by Mount Venus Productions, only broadcast in December on the Irish channel RTE 1, about Francis Bacon’s close links with Ireland and its influence on his early career as an artist. The Foundation welcomed the film team within its premises. The goal of their visit to Monaco was to discover the first oil on canvas by Francis Bacon, ‘Painting’, 1930, currently on display at the Foundation in Monaco and part of the MB Art Collection. One of the highlights of the documentary is the reveal of the place in Ireland where Bacon started to paint that first oil. Presented and narrated by U2’s Adam Clayton, a huge admirer of Francis Bacon, this insightful documentary traces the artist’s time in Ireland and examines the complex relationship Francis Bacon had with the country of his birth.
This film is not yet released in France or in other countries.