Francis Bacon
6 of 23 portraits by Neil Libbert
© Neil Libbert
Francis Bacon
by Neil Libbert
bromide print, 1989
13 1/2 in. x 9 1/8 in. (343 mm x 231 mm)
Purchased, 2000
Primary Collection
NPG P760
Artistback to top
- Neil Libbert (1938-), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 23 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.
This portraitback to top
This photograph was taken on the morning of Bacon's 80th birthday, in the doorway of his studio at 7 Reece Mews. Libbert, a news photographer and Bacon's neighbour, had photographed the artist several times before, but this encounter happened by chance after he spotted Bacon returning from their local supermarket. The picture appeared on the front page of the Observer newspaper the following day.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 27
Placesback to top
- Place made and portrayed: United Kingdom: England, London (sitter's studio and home,7 Reece Mews, South Kensington)
Events of 1989back to top
Current affairs
96 people are crushed to death at the Hillsborough football stadium in Sheffield. The accident took place when Liverpool fans were all let into the stadium at once. Incoming crowds crushed people against a fence used to prevent pitch-invasions. Following the Taylor Report into the incident standing terraces and fences between fans and pitch were banned.Art and science
Following the publication of Anglo-Indian writer Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses in 1988, the leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, announces that the book is 'blasphemous against Islam' and places a fatwah (death sentence) on Rushdie, who is forced into hiding for several years.International
The Berlin Wall is dismantled, reunifying East and West Germany and symbolising the end of the Cold War. Following a decision to allow East Berliners to cross the border with valid visas, crowds swarmed the border crossings. Guards soon gave up trying to stop them, and the physical dismantlement of the wall soon began.Approximately 2,000 Chinese demonstrators are massacred in Tiananmen Square while protesting against the government.
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