Francis Bacon
Revelations
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Francis Bacon
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Narrated by:
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Charles Armstrong
About this listen
The Times Art Book of the Year 2021
Finalist for the Plutarch Award 2022
A decade in the making, based upon hundreds of interviews and extensive new material, Pulitzer Prize winners Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan have written a startlingly original portrait—rich, complex and subtle—of a commanding modern figure.
Bacon concealed many important aspects of his life. He described himself as an asthmatic child in Ireland with foxhunting parents and a tyrannical father, but he was also rescued by a series of formidable women—women who in this biography emerge in their own right. He was never just a dissolute young man but was also a passionate reader, largely self-taught. Early on, influenced by Eileen Gray, he became a hard-working and ambitious designer, a brief career explored here in detail for the first time. He dreamed of remaking the modern room.
Bacon worked no less hard or ambitiously as a painter, at first with little success. Throughout the 1930s and early ’40s, he suffered ongoing failures, growing isolated and often ill. His health issues throughout his life were far more significant than he revealed. Then came his astonishing breakthrough in 1944, with Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. In the following decades, he emerged as one of the great iconoclasts and bon vivants of his time, a Wildean figure whom one friend called ‘a terrific grandee’. Bacon was typically celebrated as a sexual adventurer who liked rough trade, but he never stopped longing for a serious committed relationship, however painful. He continued to make disturbing images of the strangeness within, but developed into a more varied artist than has been recognised, creating in particular an extraordinary series of self-portraits. He was an artist who believed in chance and paradox: the iconoclast eventually became an icon.
This is a story, deeply researched and masterfully told, of a sickly boy who became one of the great figures of his time. The 20th century does not know itself without Bacon.
©2021 Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Must surely be the definitive life of Francis Bacon.... A biography that no Bacon fan - or indeed foe - can afford to overlook.... Mesmerising." (The Times)
"A magnificent triumph...I was captivated by every line." (Observer)
"Meticulously researched and compelling." (Guardian)
What listeners say about Francis Bacon
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anon
- 31-01-21
A great story
A brilliantly, informative book which I really enjoyed listening to. Superbly narrated. Editing could have been a little better but it didn't take from my overall engagement with, and enjoyment in, this fantastic book.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fin Hunt
- 11-02-21
Very insightful
I have really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in Bacon.
The performance was really good however, there are a number of mistakes in the reading. That I would otherwise imagine would be edited out. Or can still be edited out.
You hear when Charles clears his throat. reread's parts of the book.
Over all he does a great job. And has the perfect voice for the book. It needs some small edits is all.
As for the book its self . Is incredibly thorough in the story telling of his life. A great book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Optimistic fool
- 14-10-21
Sooo informative
Converted me from being meh about bacon to an appreciated of his work. Very full biography
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- acuff rose
- 26-01-21
Excellent book, Terrible production.
Well researched and engagingly written book. Terrible narration and production though! The former is insipid and Jackanory-like with fluffed words. The latter - what happened? There must be about 20 gaps and repeats of lines and I'm only 1/4 way through. So unworthy of the writers and their subject.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- HPlane
- 26-08-22
Lovely Details
As an art lover, it was great to learn about one of my favourite artists in more detail and I enjoyed the extensive background provided as well.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sara
- 30-01-21
Important book, good narration, lousy production
Love the detail in this story and the narration is actually good but the narrator made a lot of errors. It isn’t bad...he sentences when he makes mistakes, Its just shoddy.. Hopefully they will fix it!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Carl K
- 25-02-22
Fabulous Book
I found this a fascinating biography of a great artist. It is obviously very well researched with a great amount of information on FB yet nothing felt unnecessary. The narrator has an excellent speaking voice which was a pleasure to listen to.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- kevin
- 09-03-21
fascinating, but
this is as much a social history of a particular group in the 2nd half of the 20thC as about Francis Bacon's art. perhaps an audiobook is the wrong medium for a book about art - the absence of visual representation is frustrating: but on its own terms it is fascinating and well read, but for the regular false starts which really should be edited out. nonetheless, recommended
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Darren_Quay
- 05-06-21
Excellent Biography
This is an excellent and compelling story of the life and work of this great British / Irish painter. The narration is flawless. I didn't want it to end. It's revealing, of course and full of humour. It captures Bacon's genius, his humanity and compassion with out being sentimental. Highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michael Whitcroft
- 19-02-21
Great book - well read - but terribly badly produced
Probably the definitive biography of painter Francis Bacon. Clearly a huge amount of research has gone into writing this life story and which gives a very rounded picture of such an important and unique artist.
It is just really sad that no one seems to have done any editing of this spoken version of the book as there are repeated hesitations and stumblings in the narration by Charles Armstrong which could so easily have been edited out. Such a shame because it spoils one’s enjoyment of this really fascinating book.
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