David Sylvester’s Interviews with Francis Bacon remain the most consulted writing on Bacon. For the first time, Bacon’s words appear here in their unredacted form. Other essays throw light on form and accident in Bacon’s work, chimera and liminal entities, the psychology of the imposter, and destroyed paintings.
Half of this volume, an unprecedented proportion in the Studies series, is devoted to one topic: key parts of Bacon’s responses in Interviews with Francis Bacon that were removed, either to maintain continuity or at Bacon’s own insistence. This unpublished material will add immensely to this most frequently consulted resource and will require a reassessment of many of Bacon’s statements and ideas.
Martin Harrison examines photographs of four paintings that Bacon later destroyed.
Maria Balaska considers the question: Where does a painting come from? She investigates forms and accidents in Bacon’s work.
Amanda J. Harrison studies chimera and liminal entities in Bacon’s work.
Darian Leader asks: In whose name? He turns our attention to the psychology of the imposter.
Contributors
Martin Harrison
Author
Martin Harrison is one of the foremost scholars of Francis Bacon, and the editor of Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné.
Maria Balaska
Author
Maria Balaska is a lecturer and research fellow in philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK and at Åbo Akademi University in Finland.
Amanda Harrison
Author
Amanda J. Harrison is a poet whose essays include “Francis Bacon: A Sudden Blow” and, in Francis Bacon Studies IV, “Bacon and the Occult.”
Darian Leader
Author
Darian Leader is a psychoanalyst and author. He is honorary visiting professor in psychoanalysis at Roehampton University in the UK.
