On view in the Francis Bacon Studio display cases • Curated by AnneMarie Saliba

Bacon’s Portraits of Women explores the artist’s portraits of Henrietta Moraes, Muriel Belcher and Isabel Rawsthorne, three women who were among Bacon’s circle of friends in 1960s Soho, London, and who inspired some of his greatest work.

In London, Bacon often spent his evenings in the Colony Room, a bar owned by Muriel Belcher, which she ran from 1948 to 1979 until her death. Recognising that Bacon was an asset for her business, she gave him a weekly allowance of 10 pounds and provided him with unlimited drinks, in return for bringing guests to the bar.

Among the visitors of the Colony Room was artist and model Isabel Rawsthorne, one of Belcher’s favourite guests. She was a costume and stage designer and often modelled for artists, including Jacob Epstein, André Derain, Alberto Giacometti and Pablo Picasso. Her impressive features and bold presence inspired Bacon to produce several portraits of her.

Henrietta Moraes was also an artists’ model, at art schools in London and of notable artists, including Lucian Freud. Known as the uncrowned Queen of 1950s Soho, Bacon produced at least ten paintings of Moraes, including a triptych. As the basis of his works, Bacon often painted his portraits from photographs taken by Deakin upon request, such as those of Moraes lying nude on a bed.

Selected from Hugh Lane Gallery’s Francis Bacon Archive, this display brings together Deakin’s photography of the three women and illustrations of their striking portraits painted by Bacon.