a brief teaching position at the Royal College of Art. In 1951, he held his first one-man show at the Durlacher Brothers, New York.
             The following year, he met Peter Lacy, with whom Bacon entered a long, punishing, and tormented relationship. After their relationship ended, Bacon painted Two Figures and the Man in Blue series as a tribute to Peter in 1953.
             Three years later, he painted his first self-portrait and began exhibiting frequently in Paris, Turin, Milan, Rome, and Sao Palo. In 1964, Francis met George Dyer, a career criminal, with whom he became lovers. He painted Three Figures in a Room the same year. The triptych was acquired by the Musee National d'Art Modern, Paris.
             The following year, Francis painted a large Crucifixion triptych, which was acquired by the Munich Museum. Shortly after the Crucifixion, George Dyer's behavior became increasingly erratic, and his drinking escalated. He unsuccessfully attempted suicide while in New York in 1968. In 1971, Dyer drank himself to death in a hotel room he and Bacon were sharing. The scene of George's death-haunted Bacon, and drove him to pain three triptychs in 1971, 1972, and 1973.
             Following the last of the series, Bacon took John Edwards as a new lover in 1974. Two years later, Bacon painted his first portrait of Michel Lewis, which represented a turning point in his portrayal of the portrait. A second portrait was painted in 1978.
             As Bacon grew older, his attitude towards life soured. He didn't like the idea of growing old, and through the mid-80s, as his friends passed away, his attitude and drinking got worse.
             In 1985, Francis Bacon was hailed as the greatest living painter, following a major retrospective at the Tate Gallery. The same year, he painted another self-portrait, and Oedipus and the Sphinx after Ingres. Three years later Francis painted a second version of Triptych in 1944.
             After the second version of the triptych, he painte...