Francis Bacon's Nanny by Maylis Besserie

Francis Bacon's Nanny by Maylis BesserieAt the very centre of the life of one of the twentieth centurys greatest artists was the most unexpected of life long influences. The aptly named Jessie Lightfoot shielded the young Francis Bacon from the brutish violence of his bullying father, as well as from his worst self immolating excesses later in life. The tenderness, wit and warmth of this inimitable Nanny stands in illuminating relief to the sulphurous palette that defined Bacons work.

The story of their domestic adventures

and transferred to the West End once again

Enthralled by poetry all his life

hoping for a new dawn for freedom

has been looking down at our blue and green planet for millennia

and why the country mansions of the landed class became such a symbolic target for republicans throughout the period

this richly-allusive novel

he gives a comparative survey of them too

and the secular

moral vision and faith in the power of direct action

includes new dialogue

St Stephen’s Green