see Francis Bacon’s Popes
FRANCIS BACON (Irish-born, 1909-1992) was known as being the life of any party, staying out all night, entertaining everyone at a bar or party with his boisterous wit and fascinating opinions and insights on any subject. He was one of the first artists whose work got me really excited to learn more about art. He’s a figurative painter – he primarily paints portraits, often of friends and lovers, often of those who have passed away, and then addressing issues of loss – but his brushwork and imagery is unsettling, raw, brutal, and horrifying; almost more properly descended from medieval depictions of Hell and its eternally anguished sufferers than from classical portraiture – except for the clear Godlessness in Bacon’s world view. He considers his work realist – not because of photo-realistic qualities (which are absent), but because his work instills a very real, visceral, emotional reaction. His portraits feel existential, alienated, claustrophobic, tormented, bleak, and alone, and they often literally scream within their confined spaces.
Extra special thank to the official Francis Bacon website, http://www.francis-bacon.com/ – an absolutly stupendous resource full of great and fascinating information, as well as a place to enjoy such an enormous selection of artwork!
Read the comic book, “Brush with Peril”: 
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