Inspiration

The President of the Foundation first encountered Bacon’s work in the early 1990s, when he was at university in London. He was studying business and international relations, but also took a course in history of art. During a visit to the Tate Gallery, he was confronted with Bacon’s legendary triptych Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1944). It changed the course of his life, triggering a compulsive need to explore the world of the singular artist who had produced it. Then and there, he set about immersing himself in Bacon’s art, life and working methods – a process that is still ongoing.

Through his research, Majid Boustany soon found out that Bacon had a special connection with the Principality of Monaco. He lived and worked there from July 1946 to the early 1950s and regularly came back for visits with family members, lovers and friends. Those stays were among the periods of his life that he talked most freely about. He frequently said how much work he managed to accomplish in Monaco, despite the many distractions on offer.

After several decades studying Bacon’s harrowing, timeless work, bearing in mind the artist’s fascination with and fondness for Monaco, Majid Boustany began to envisage setting up a Francis Bacon foundation there.

He launched the project in 2010. The support of H.S.H. Prince Albert II and the Monaco authorities played a crucial part. The Estate of Francis Bacon also encouraged this unique initiative, and Martin Harrison, the author of the catalogue raisonné of Francis Bacon’s oeuvre, serves on the board of the Foundation. The nonprofit Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation was officially opened by the sovereign of Monaco on 28 October 2014. The date was specially chosen to coincide with the painter’s birthday.