Francis Bacon and his circle

The works of Francis Bacon (1909-1992) are currently the subject of a major exhibition at Tate Britain, London. Choose one of the following links to learn more about Francis Bacon from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, published by Oxford University Press.

> Read Bacon’s Oxford DNB biography for free > Or listen to his biography as a podcast (also available to download): > More podcast episodes

The Oxford DNB also includes entries on members of Bacon’s circle, many of them regulars in bohemian Soho.

• Michael Andrews (1928–1995), artist
• Gaston Berlemont (1914–1999), publican
• Bruce Bernard (1928–2000), photographer and picture editor
• Jeffrey Bernard (1932–1997), journalist
• Daniel Farson (1927–1997), journalist and author
• John Minton (1917–1957), painter and illustrator
• David Sylvester (1924–2001), art critic and exhibition curator

About the Oxford DNB

• the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is a collection of 56,500 biographies of men and women who shaped all aspects of British history, worldwide, from the 4th century BC to the year 2004.
• with more than 10,400 portrait images, it’s also the largest published collection of British portraiture.
• the ODNB online is freely available via public libraries across the UK. Libraries offer ‘remote access’ allowing members to log-on to the complete dictionary, for free, from home (or any other computer) twenty-four hours a day.
• personal and institutional subscriptions from 1 to 12 months are also available.

Oxford DNB free tasters

• as well as 56,500 life stories, the ODNB publishes a twice monthly biography podcast featuring some popular entries from the collection: from Boudicca to Barbara Cartland.
• you can also sign up for a Life of the Day: a topical biography delivered to your inbox.
• the online edition of the ODNB is updated three times a year with new biographies and reference articles.