Terence Pepper Francis Bacon with Daniel Farson 1987 bromide print National Portrait Gallery, London |
A curator at the National Portrait Gallery took the photograph above when Francis Bacon attended a reception in 1987. The artist was 78 when this picture was taken. His supposed friend Daniel Farson is also in the picture, in profile. Bacon died in 1992. Two years later – as his tribute to the friendship – Daniel Farson published a meretricious little book called The Gilded Gutter Life of Francis Bacon. The title aspires to sensationalism but the text is vague and limp. Other snapshots from the Gallery's collections are arranged below. Top to bottom, they run from most to least recent, against the grain of time.
Neil Libbert Francis Bacon at the French House, Soho 1984 bromide print National Portrait Gallery, London |
Jane Brown Francis Bacon 1983 bromide print National Portrait Gallery, London |
Daniel Farson Francis Bacon 1980s C-type print National Portrait Gallery, London |
Mayotte Magnus Francis Bacon 1977 bromide print National Portrait Gallery, London |
Peter Stark Francis Bacon with Muriel Belcher 1975 cibachrome National Portrait Gallery, London |
Peter Stark Francis Bacon with Muriel Belcher 1975 bromide print National Portrait Gallery, London |
Peter Stark Francis Bacon in his studio 1975 cibachrome National Portrait Gallery, London |
Peter Stark Francis Bacon 1975 bromide print National Portrait Gallery, London |
John Hedgecoe Francis Bacon 1970 platinum print National Portrait Gallery, London |
Herbert K Nolan John Rothenstein and Francis Bacon 1957 bromide print National Portrait Gallery, London |
Cecil Beaton Francis Bacon 1951 bromide print National Portrait Gallery, London |