The Foundation lent a series of rare photographs of Francis Bacon including two unique portraits of the British painter taken by Helmar Lerski and Francis Julian Gutmann respectively.
Showcasing more than fifty works from the 1950s onwards, this exhibition explored Francis Bacon’s deep connection to portraiture and how he challenged traditional definitions of the genre. From his responses to portraiture by earlier artists to large-scale paintings commemorating lost lovers, artworks from private and public collections recorded Bacon’s turbulent life-story. In addition to the artist’s self-portraits, the exhibition included portraits of major figures from the art world whom he knew socially, such as Lucian Freud and Isabel Rawsthorne, and his lovers Peter Lacy and George Dyer.
