Francis Bacon

A hidden Irish history

Margarita Cappock

This book will shed new light on the Dublin-born artist, Francis Bacon (1909-92), and explore how the complex origins of Bacon’s artistic life can be traced to his upbringing in Ireland.

Bacon and his four siblings were all Irish-born and his paternal and maternal families – the Bacons and Firths – had a forty-year association with Ireland from 1895 to 1937, a turbulent and violent period in Irish history. Involved in many facets of Irish society – military, equestrian, social, sporting and artistic – this book will reveal previously unknown and intriguing family connections in Ireland and further afield and explore how this influenced the young artist and his creative output. Bacon’s attitude to Ireland was more nuanced and complex than the artist liked to reveal. Consisting of a series of ten ‘vignettes’, these thematic essays on Bacon’s Irish history will feature previously unseen images and contemporaneous accounts. With a foreword by Colm Tóibín.

Margarita Cappock is an art historian, curator and published author. A 
graduate of University College, Dublin, she was formerly Head of Collections 
and Project Manager of the Francis Bacon Studio and Archive at the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin. There she led the team and coordinated the documentation and reconstruction of Bacon’s Reece Mews studio and its contents. She has lectured worldwide on Francis Bacon, acted as curatorial advisor for international exhibitions and made documentaries on the artist.