Over the next few weeks, we'll be taking a look inside the studio's of some amazing artists!
The artist’s studio is a special kind of place. It's the literal and metaphorical arena in which their work is made, their creativity is challenged, and their practice comes to life.
Getting a glimpse inside an artist's studio is like gaining insight into the inner workings of their mind. Each is hugely different from the rest, and often perfectly encapsulates the artist's style and process. In order to learn more about these five artists, we bring you a look inside their unique workspaces.
The artist’s studio is a special kind of place. It's the literal and metaphorical arena in which their work is made, their creativity is challenged, and their practice comes to life.
Getting a glimpse inside an artist's studio is like gaining insight into the inner workings of their mind. Each is hugely different from the rest, and often perfectly encapsulates the artist's style and process. In order to learn more about these five artists, we bring you a look inside their unique workspaces.
Francis Bacon
Bacon’s studio was a love-letter to chaos. Based in a mews house in South Kensington, where the artist lived and worked for the last 30 years of his life, the studio was piled wall to wall with books, photos, paint brushes, paint cans, rags, and old clothes. The entire house consisted of two rooms, with a bathroom and kitchen in-between. Bacon kept his bed in the sitting room and used the other room as his studio. While the house was clean, the studio was incredibly messy.
“This mess here around us is rather like my mind”, Bacon explained, “It may be a good image of what goes on inside me, that’s what it’s like, my life is like that.” Indeed, Bacon would go out drinking until the early hours most days, and yet awaken very early each day, usually with first light, to start work on his paintings. He’d start the day with a strong cup of tea – usually to assuage his hangover – and work quickly. He often completed a work in just a few sittings, giving him time to clock off around 12pm each day, at which point he’d go and enjoy a glass of champagne in a Soho bar.
Despite the clutter of his studio, he was very disciplined. The mess was a kind of ordered chaos. Although it looked like debris, the cluttered space was in fact a dense collection of images and inspirational materials. He kept thousands of photos and pictures, which he’d work from when composing a painting. He vaguely knew were things were, or where he might have left them, but he would often have to scour through his studio for some or other object.
He used his walls as enormous makeshift palettes. Every wall, and even the door, was covered in large brush strokes, and different shades of paint. Partly from trying out different colors, and partly from cleaning his brushes. The room was small and not very bright, lit by a skylight and a small north-facing window, with the help of just one powerful bulb hanging in the middle of the room. He would never use an assistant, considering painting to be a solitary pursuit. He would work in his dressing gown, and change into an immaculately clean suit every time he left the studio, in order to maintain a divide between life and art, chaos and order
(source: mutualart.com)
“This mess here around us is rather like my mind”, Bacon explained, “It may be a good image of what goes on inside me, that’s what it’s like, my life is like that.” Indeed, Bacon would go out drinking until the early hours most days, and yet awaken very early each day, usually with first light, to start work on his paintings. He’d start the day with a strong cup of tea – usually to assuage his hangover – and work quickly. He often completed a work in just a few sittings, giving him time to clock off around 12pm each day, at which point he’d go and enjoy a glass of champagne in a Soho bar.
Despite the clutter of his studio, he was very disciplined. The mess was a kind of ordered chaos. Although it looked like debris, the cluttered space was in fact a dense collection of images and inspirational materials. He kept thousands of photos and pictures, which he’d work from when composing a painting. He vaguely knew were things were, or where he might have left them, but he would often have to scour through his studio for some or other object.
He used his walls as enormous makeshift palettes. Every wall, and even the door, was covered in large brush strokes, and different shades of paint. Partly from trying out different colors, and partly from cleaning his brushes. The room was small and not very bright, lit by a skylight and a small north-facing window, with the help of just one powerful bulb hanging in the middle of the room. He would never use an assistant, considering painting to be a solitary pursuit. He would work in his dressing gown, and change into an immaculately clean suit every time he left the studio, in order to maintain a divide between life and art, chaos and order
(source: mutualart.com)
