Mark Stevens - Francis Bacon: Revelations

We are fortunate in our debts. The Estate of Francis Bacon gave us a no-strings research grant, without which we could not have written this biography. The chairman of the Estate, the artist Brian Clarke, additionally provided us with rigorous help in certain areas of research. The catalogue raisonn, edited by Martin Harrison and published in 2016 under the auspices of the Estate, is today a model of its kind: an invaluable resource for scholars to which we have regularly turned with admiration and gratitude. Martin also made available to us the important diary of Bacons cousin, Diana Watson. At the Estate, Elizabeth Beatty granted us hours of cheerful assistance, and we miss the late Peter Hunt and Christophe Dejean, who brightened our early years in London. Ben Harrison and Sophie Pretorius, now working for the Estate, are highly informed and eternally cheerful accomplices in all things Bacon. They smoothed the way toward this books publication.

We have particularly benefited, of course, from the guidance of Shelley Wanger, our editor at Knopf, who is a model of forbearancehaving also edited our biography of Willem de Kooning. Her deft observations and wry smile helped immeasurably over the many years, as did her astute questions. She led a team that was not only talented but also willing to take the necessary time. (And it could be a slog.) She was ably assisted by Tatiana Dubin, a marvel of organization and patience, and the sharp-eyed Kevin Bourke, who caught both mistakes and infelicitous phrasings and endured with good humor a constantly changing text. We are grateful to Chip Kidd for the elegant jacket and Maggie Hinders for the fine design; to Knopfs Daniel Novack for careful legal counsel; and to Paul Bogaards, Nicholas Latimer, and Erinn Hartman for organizing a creative launch during the time of COVID. For the U.K. edition of the book, Arabella Pike at HarperCollins assembled an enthusiastic and focused group. Our literary agent Clare Conville was a dynamo of energy and ideas in London, while Molly Friedrich and Lucy Carson offered valuable advice in New York. If a book could have godparents, this ones would be John and Jodie Eastmanwho helped us during the writing of the de Kooning biographyand then, early on, encouraged us to write a biography of Bacon.

Apart from the Bacon Estate, other institutions with a special focus on the artist proved exceptionally generous. Majid Boustanythe founder of the Francis Bacon MB Foundation in Monaco and a tireless champion of the artistis a remarkable man determined to collect (or correct) every possible fact and idea about the painter. Without his assistance and that of Aurlie Valion, who helped us delve into the foundations vast collection of images and articles, this book would have been the poorer. At the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin, which displays in toto the Bacon studio that was once at Reece Mews, Barbara Dawson, Margarita Cappock, Jessica ODonnell, Philip Roe, and Logan Sisley steered us through their rich archive and were unfailingly kind in providing us with documents and photographs. In Tangier, Gerald Loftus took us through the historical records of TALIM (Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies). Anyone interested in English art will find the librarians and archive of the Tate Collection consistently useful, of course, and we owe special thanks to the descendants of John Rothenstein, who allowed us to examine his private diary.

At Marlborough Fine Artswhere Bacon exhibited for more than three decadesGilbert Lloyd generously gave us access to the gallery archives and reminisced about the artist and his friends. He also arranged a meeting for us with the last living founder of the gallery, David Somerset, the Duke of Beaufort. Somerset provided droll and insightful views on Bacon and the gallerys history. Also in the London office of the gallery, Kate Austin unfailingly provided us with assistance (and cups of tea), and both she and Geoffrey Parton introduced us to people who knew Bacon. We are also grateful to Mary Miller for helping with images for the book. In the New York office of the gallery, Pierre Levai and David Robinson perceptively reminisced about Bacon. We also wish to thank Amy Baker at the Mayor Gallery in London, where Bacon made his debut as an artist: we gleaned many details about that early period from the Mayor archive and also from James Mayor, whose father founded the gallery in 1933.

Francis Bacons family, now mostly living in South Africa and Zimbabwe, were remarkably hospitable. The artists sister, the late Ianthe Knott, with whom we spoke at the outset of our research, was always cheerful and forthcoming when confronted by the annoying questions that a biographer must inevitably ask close relatives. In her understated and sometimes wry way, she provided us with a unique perspective on her parents and brother. Ianthes sons Keith and Harley Knotttogether with Wendy Knott, Keiths wifeshared without reserve many lively memories of Uncle Francis both in Africa and among his circle in London. The family added the kind of personal details that help a biographer locate the man behind the reputation.

Several individuals conducted research on our behalf. James Norton combed through English archives, interviewed sources, and located the Eric Allden diaries, which offer a fresh perspective on Bacons early years. Together with the filmmaker Adam Low, James also generously made available to us the full transcripts of the interviews conducted with the artists family and friends for Lows