Francis Bacon (1909–1992) – English expressionist painter, master of figurative painting.

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. Rejecting various classifications of his work, Bacon said he strove to render "the brutality of fact". He built up a reputation as one of the giants of contemporary art with his unique style.
In his later life, he firmly established himself as one of the leading British artists of the 20th century, and his work is now highly regarded, with several of his works included in the list of the most expensive paintings.

In our time, Bacon's work is in high demand among collectors: in 2007, the family of the Sheikh of Qatar purchased "Study for a Portrait of Pope Innocent X on a Red Background" for $ 53 million, and the following year "Triptych, 1976" was bought at auction Sotheby's by Roman Abramovich for 86.3 million. In November 2013, Three Studies for a Portrait of Lucian Freud (1969) was sold for a record price of $142.4 million. In February 2014, an anonymous buyer from America purchased Portrait of a Talking George Dyer (1966) for $70 million. In May, the triptych Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards (1984) was sold at Christie's for $80.8 million.