Francis Bacon (1909–92) speaks openly to his close friend Michel Archimbaud, whose searching questions shed a new light on Bacon’s work. The discussion is wide-ranging, touching on painting, literature and music, with candid revelations about Bacon’s childhood, his relationship with his father, his friends and the influences which have shaped his art. It is punctuated with revealing and sometimes disparaging remarks about a whole host of artists, including among others Rubens, Blake, Monet, Cezanne, Picasso, Balthus, Giacometti, Shakespeare and Baudelaire. These interviews can be regarded as Bacon’s final vision as they took place in the artist’s studio in Paris between October 1991 and April 1992, shortly before he died.