The Existential Englishman

by Michael Peppiatt

  From Bacon’s electrifying early exhibitions through the chaos of drink, drugs and gambling, Peppiatt became deeply involved with the ground-breaking genius. This intimate and revealing memoir brings vividly alive the art worlds of Paris and London and one of the most important artists of the twentieth century.

  ‘A vivid new memoir by the artist’s protégé is set to be a classic … highly entertaining … the narrative comes hurtling off the page with a palpable sense of release and apparently guileless, even artless, candour. The cavalcade of bohemian celebrities goes on and on … captivating...a classic, not only of art writing, but of personal memoir’ Sunday Telegraph

  ‘There is a certain grisly satisfaction in watching an artist behave as one expects an artist to. Francis Bacon … always delivered and just how richly is recorded by Peppiatt … A wonderfully vivid account’ Art Book of the Year, Sunday Times

  https://www.bloomsbury.com/author/michael-peppiatt/

  https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/francis-bacon-in-your-blood-9781408856239/

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  First published in Great Britain 2019

  This electronic edition first published in Great Britain 2019

  Copyright © Michael Peppiatt, 2019

  Michael Peppiatt has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work

  Endpaper images are from the author’s personal collection, except: top left: © Philibert, 1987; Centre right: © Piero Damiani/Getty Images; Bottom centre: © Michel Sfez/Getty Images

  For legal purposes the Acknowledgements constitute an extension of this copyright page

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication data has been applied for

  ISBN: HB: 978-1-4088-9171-1; eBook: 978-1-4088-9170-4

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