Francis Bacon (28 October 1909 – 28 April 1992) was an Irish-born British[1] figurative painter known for his raw, unsettling imagery. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures.[2] Rejecting various classifications of his work, Bacon said he strove to render "the brutality of fact."[2] He built up a reputation as one of the giants of contemporary art with his unique style.[3]

Bacon said that he saw images "in series", and his work, which numbers c. 590 extant paintings along with many others he destroyed,[4] typically focused on a single subject for sustained periods, often in triptych or diptych formats. His output can be broadly described as sequences or variations on single motifs; including the 1930s Picasso-influenced bio-morphs and Furies, the 1940s male heads isolated in rooms or geometric structures, the 1950s "screaming popes," the mid-to-late 1950s animals and lone figures, the early 1960s crucifixions, the mid-to-late 1960s portraits of friends, the 1970s self-portraits, and the cooler, more technical 1980s paintings.