Craig Raine

‘There are an awful lot of my paintings I don’t like,’ admitted Francis Bacon

While waspishly dismissive of many of the 20th century’s greatest artists, Bacon was also critical of his own work, in conversation with David Sylvester

Francis Bacon in his studio in London, 1966, photographed by Mario Dondero. [Bridgeman Images]
  • Comments

  • Francis Bacon: A Self-Portrait in Words

    edited by Michael Peppiatt

    Thames & Hudson, pp. 500, £40

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Subscribe today to get 3 months' delivery of the magazine, as well as online and app access, for only £3.

  • Weekly delivery of the magazine
  • Unlimited access to our website and app
  • Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
  • Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Read next

Trending

Tanjil Rashid

William Morris’s debt to Islam

From the magazine
When William Morris was born in Walthamstow, in 1834, it was little more than a clump of marshland at the edge of the Epping Forest. This was the terrain of his free, frolicsome childhood, and it would forever form his image of humble, Edenic England, uncorrupted by the industrialist’s yoke. About the only thing that

More on art history

Also by Craig Raine

Latest

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in