Francis Bacon, the artist—not to be confused with his relative, Sir Francis Bacon, the Elizabethan philosopher—was known for his figurative, often macabre works. Macabre isn’t the most desirable way ...

Francis Bacon is known, above all, for conceiving of a great and terrible human project: the conquest of nature for “the relief of man’s estate.” This project, still ongoing, has its champions. “If ...