Francis Bacon by Francis Giacobetti

One of the most successful painters of the twentieth century, the self-taught Irish-British painter Francis Bacon produced canvases with distorted biomorphic forms expressing the brutality, terror and disconnection of the postwar psyche. His distinctive style made him one of the most widely recognized figurative artists of the 1940s and ’50s. Through his portraiture, Bacon depicted his bohemian friends and denizens of the nightlife in the Soho district of London. His famously cluttered studio was carefully catalogued and meticulously re-created in the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin in 2001.

Another self-taught artist, Francis Giacobetti is recognized today for bringing a touch of elegance to the realm of nude photography. He has photographed for the monthly magazine Lui since its creation, he shot the Pirelli calendars for 1970 and 1971, and he has created portraits of the world’s most famous artists, celebrities and personalities. Giacobetti’s acclaimed series, including Zebras, Iris, Hymn and the Bacon portraits, express all the beauty of the human body, and his unorthodox approach to technique, light and shadow has earned him a place in the pantheon of great photographers.