The majestic new biography of Francis Bacon by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan tells us more about Bacon and his circle than anything that has come before. It also serves to complicate what had become a slightly reductive take on this master of 20th century art whom almost every artist I've written about has looked towards both for formal qualities and the autobiographical way in which he excavated for subject matter.

In the early 1960's, Bacon's practice evolved to a more shallow picture plane and more intense color. This painting, Reclining Woman from 1961 is of Henrietta Moraes (see also Michael Andrews rendering of her in a blue dress in my post on his group painting of the denizens of the Colony from a few days ago) who Bacon painted many times from photographs he commissioned from John Deakin. (He of the group photo) Of course, she also had an affair with Lucian Freud who also famously painted her wrapped in a blanket. As I mentioned, Bacon did not like being lumped in with any 'school' but it's clear that they all found inspiration from those close to them.

We don't think of Bacon painting women in general, but Moraes, a free spirited and mercurial intimate, was a frequent sitter. The biography makes plain that in and amongst the more celebrated (and sometimes violent) relations with his lovers, Bacon had good female friends and supporters throughout his life. This image is a precursor to his 1962 triptych of the Crucifixion, a format that was to become something of a regular.

Later Moraes ending up sharing an apartment with Marianne Faithfull. London can sometimes seem a very small town. Her life became somewhat chaotic, and she had to go into rehab etc, but for a time she was the muse par excellence of this stellar London group.

I'm not sure where this painting is now--at the time of the London Calling show it was still part of the Estate.