Martin Harrison

With the aid of over 250 source images and documents, this text reveals how photographs, film, mass-media imagery and other sources informed Bacon's painting and, in particular, how 'lens-based images' helped to trigger the most significant turning point in his stylistic development.

"Swedish by birth, Parisian by inclination, and American following her marriage to Irving Penn in 1950. Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn (1911-1992) was the most sought-after model in the history of international fashion photography for three decades and the most famous face in such magazines as Vogue and Harper's Bazaar."--BOOK JACKET. "During her long career, she posed for all the prominent photographers of her day: George Hoyningen-Huene, Man Ray, Horst, Erwin Blumenfeld, George Platt Lynes, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Norman Parkinson and Richard Avedon, among others. Of special importance was her work with Fernand Fonssagrives, her first husband; with Horst, with whom she shared a common fate as a European immigrant; and of course with Irving Penn, her second husband."--BOOK JACKET. "Lisa Fonssagrives was obviously more than just a model for photographers - she was both their muse and inspiration. Many of them made their most beautiful and noteworthy fashion photographs in cooperation with her. Among these is a surprisingly large number which rank among the absolute classics in the history of fashion photography of our century."--BOOK JACKET. "This volume was compiled and arranged by David Seidner, a talented fashion photographer of the new generation who unearthed an undiscovered collection of photographs which once belonged to Lisa Fonssagrives. The British photo historian Martin Harrison wrote the accompanying biographical essay."--BOOK JACKET.

Bacon (1909-92) was raised in large country houses in rural Ireland by a family whose conventional expectations he rebelled against early on. As a young man he was introduced to the seamy side of life in London and Paris; but only after seeing a Picasso retrospective in 1928 did he become an artist. He sprang into prominence in 1944 with a triptych which shocked the art world with its sheer ferocity, and he soon emerged, with his friend Lucian Freud, as a leader of an informal "School of London," which favored figurative painting in an age dominated by abstraction. As retrospectives of Bacon's work in Paris, London, and New York made his reputation soar, his nighttime exploits grew wilder and wilder; charming and confident, with a strong sadomasochistic streak, he was drawn to "rough trade" in London clubs and pushed all situations to the edge. At the same time, he was a deeply cultivated and thoughtful artist who was obsessively guarded about the sources of his inspiration. Michael Peppiatt has unlocked many of the enigmas of Bacon's life and work. Bacon talked openly to Peppiatt about his early life, his sexuality, his fantasies, and his ambitions, aware that all was being recorded for publication. At the suggestion that some of his remarks would sound indiscreet, Bacon replied: "The more indiscreet, the more interesting it will be." Together with many new facts, unpublished documents, and penetrating analyses of key paintings, these conversations have been integrated into what is the most complete and riveting account of one of the greatest artists of our time.

Seattle art collectors Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis were frequent visitors to New York City in the 1970s and early 1980s when they collaboratively built their collection, filling their home with singular works of art. Their shared legacy and passion for engaging thoughtfully, deeply, and personally with art--and the frisson of excitement that arises with such a connection--are celebrated and echoed in this special exhibition catalogue. -- publisher's website Spanning 1945 through 1976, the paintings, drawings, and sculptures in Frisson serve as significant examples of mature works and pivotal moments of artistic development from some of the most influential American and European artists of the postwar period, including Francis Bacon, Lee Krasner, Clyfford Still, Philip Guston, Joan Mitchell, David Smith, and others. Together they represent an inimitable archive of innovation and a cross-pollination of leading artistic positions in the postwar years. With twenty new scholarly essays written by leading experts, Frisson provides the first opportunity for in-depth research into and new insights about nineteen noteworthy artworks recently acquired by the Seattle Art Museum. -- publisher's website

Exhibition catalogue.