Francis Bacon
1 portrait of Francis Bacon
© estate of Daniel Farson / National Portrait Gallery, London
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Francis Bacon
by Daniel Farson
chromogenic print, 1980s
12 3/8 in. x 10 3/8 in. (313 mm x 263 mm)
Purchased, 1986
Photographs Collection
NPG x26413
Artistback to top
- Daniel Farson (1927-1997), Photographer and writer. Artist or producer of 47 portraits, Sitter in 6 portraits.
This portraitback to top
The photographer Daniel Farson described Bacon as 'the most magical man I have ever known'. Farson and Bacon had been good friends and drinking companions since the early 1950s. Farson, a broadcaster, journalist and photographer took many photographs of Bacon throughout their friendship. This photograph was taken outside the French Pub on Dean Street, now called the French House, where he had first met Bacon, and where Bacon would always buy champagne. The artist was particularly fond of the Edwardian toast: 'Champagne for my real friends. Real pain for my sham friends.'
Placesback to top
- Place made: United Kingdom: England, London (outside the French Pub, Dean Street, Soho)
Events of 1980back to top
Current affairs
Margaret Thatcher makes one of her most famous speeches, living up to her nickname of 'the Iron Lady'. The speech was given to the Conservative Party conference in Brighton in response to the media speculation that the party would go back on its counter-inflationary policies: 'The lady's not for turning!'Art and science
John Lennon is murdered on the steps of his house. After fatally shooting him, Mark David Chapman calmly sat down on the pavement and waited to be arrested by police. Chapman had a history of mental illness and claimed that he had committed the murder as a way of getting attention.International
Iraq invades Iran, beginning eight years of conflict. The invasion followed years of border disputes, but was precipitated by the 1979 revolution in Iran and the resulting instability which Saddam Hussein saw as an opportunity to expand Iraqi influence in the region. Despite early gains for Iraq, the conflict soon descended into a war of attrition with huge causalities caused by Iraq's use of chemical weapons.Comments back to top
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