Francis Bacon (1909-1992) was born in Dublin and lived all his adult life in London. His artistic breakthrough came with the 1944 triptych Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, and it was this work and his heads and figures of the late 1940s through the mid-1950s that sealed his reputation as one of the greatest painters of the 20th century.

The foreword is written by art historian Katharina Günther. The book is produced in co-operation with The Estate of Francis Bacon in London.