Chad Taylor

Francis Bacon in Your Blood by Michael Peppiatt

In 1963 Michael Peppiatt joined Francis Bacon's circle after interviewing the artist for a student newspaper and later being invited to his Dean Street lair: "... the moment I go in Francis is standing at the top of a very steep flight of stairs, his arms opened out in welcome." A lively relationship of art and drinking ensues, which Peppiatt recreates in vivid detail. The author claims to recall the artist's lengthy monologues so well because Bacon repeated himself often -- a reminder that for all the painter's talk of spontaneity and the unconscious, he relied as much on rehearsal and theatre. Both Bacon and his admirer(s) strive for effect in this substantial memoir which pops with colour. It triangulates agreeably with other Bacon biographies including the ur-text interviews with David Sylvester and is a starry account of the time when the art world spun around a few blocks in Soho.

-- Sunday Star Times, December 2015