Wild Life: Francis Bacon and Peter Beard, explores the friendship between Francis Bacon (1909–1992) and his long-time friend and muse, the artist Peter Beard (1938–2020) who, despite working on different sides of the world, shared deeply similar personal and creative passions. Beard first met Bacon in 1967, at his exhibition at the Marlborough New London Gallery. The two became friends and admirers of each other’s work and served as one another’s subjects on many occasions over the years.
Organised in collaboration with Peter Beard’s Estate, the exhibition is intended as a celebration of Beard’s life. Works from the period of the two artists’ friendship will be shown side by side for the first time, along with unseen materials from Beard’s archives including letters and photographs gifted to Bacon, and, most importantly, Beard’s diaries, which served as the genesis for his art.
