Great Art: Francis Bacon’s 1956-7 After Van Gogh paintings

Now we are going back to the 1950’s for today’s painting lesson! I’ve picked out to blog about Francis Bacon the painter, not the other guy with the same name. A few of my fave paintings of his, which as the blog title tells you are after Vincent Van Gogh.

Another dead painter, Francis was born in 1909 and then died in 1992. I guess, while I’m at it because it’s kind-of about him Vincent was born in 1853 and died in 1890. Those are the basic facts and I think I’ll leave it at that because Bacon will get another a post or more sometime and Van Gogh will off course get his own blog post/s down the road sometime soon.

After the very first painting of these from the year 1956, the very dark one at the top. I’ve mixed up the numbers and not got them in the right order how those numbers goes. The five after where done the following year in 1957 and if I remember right a couple were still wet, the paint had not dry when shown in the exhibition of the same year. He’s an oil painter too, all painting are oil on canvas below. I think is the best paint to use or my fave, if you want an recommend from me to use. Bacon did do some more paintings based of Van Gogh but once again, I’m remembering these were the earliest he did. Well, I think? I should double check that before posting this but I guess maybe someone can tell me if I’m totally wrong about that?

Study for a Portrait of Van Gogh I, 1956

Study for Portrait of Van Gogh IV, 1957

Study for a portrait of Van Gogh II, 1957

Study for Portrait of Van Gogh VI, 1957

Study for Portrait of Van Gogh III, 1957

Study for a Portrait of Van Gogh V, 1957

These set of paintings by Bacon, above are kind-off based on a Van Gogh painting below. Which fun fact: the painting itself was destroyed in World War II, lost by fire in 1945.

The Painter on His Way to Work, 1888

So here’s a song which isn’t Don McLean’s Vincent! Sorry fans of that track but I can’t stand Donnie at all. After including songs on the four previous art blog posts in the last two weeks with very easy related music, now things are going to get a bit more random or totally vague because today I’ve picked out the Yellow Blues by Rollins Band for this post to end on. It’s the title track from album Henry released himself in mid-2000’s on his own label but it recorded in an earlier sessions around year 2000 for what was released on a major label which he did say “not a very good label” after and was also around the time Henry stop writing and recording new music, here it is:

Cheers 🙂