“Study for Portrait of José Capelo” was completed in 1989 after the two men became friends at a dinner party held for English ballet dancer and choreographer Frederick Ashton. Bacon, who was 78 at the time, supposedly became “infatuated” with Capelo, who was in his early 30s. According to sources close to both parties, Bacon died of a heart attack in 1992 when he was in Madrid to see Capelo.
Francis Bacon is regarded as one of the most important 20th century artists and once held the auction record for the most expensive painting ever sold. He is recognized for his distinctive style of distortion. Focused on a study of human form, he often painted self-portraits and portraits of friends in grotesque depictions. He rejected more generic classifications and instead insisted on “the brutality of fact” within his work.
