FRANCIS BACON (1909-1992)
Lot 76 PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE BRITISH COLLECTION

FRANCIS BACON (1909-1992)

RARE AND IMPORTANT STOOL, CIRCA 1930

Closed1 May 2013

Price Realised

GBP 18,750

More Information

How to sell

FRANCIS BACON (1909-1992)
RARE AND IMPORTANT STOOL, CIRCA 1930
painted plywood, of sectional construction
16 in. (41 cm.) high; 20¾ in. (52.5 cm.) wide; 15 in. (38 cm.) deep

Francis Bacon;
Christian & Joan Darnton, purchased from the above, 1930;
Thence by descent.

Specialist note

The present stool is a scarce surviving element of a suite of Modernist furniture that Francis Bacon designed and exhibited in 1930, his brief activities as an interior decorator having since been overshadowed by his profile as an artist.

In August 1930 The Studio Magazine -- Britain's leading forum for progressive architecture and design -- published an article entitled 'The 1930 Look in British Decoration', which featured a small group of furnishings, including a dressing table with large circular mirror, and companion stool corresponding to the present example. Despite favourable reviews, it would appear that none of the furnishings were developed beyond the initial examples, and by 1933 Bacon had abandoned decoration altogether in favour of painting.

The present lot was purchased directly from Bacon in late 1930 by the celebrated Modernist composer Christian Darnton and his artist wife, Joan, and has remained with the family since.