Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Poor George

Michael Peppiatt's account of his 30-year friendship with Francis Bacon continues with death, guilt and inspiration.

Adrian Scarborough reads Michael Peppiatt's intimate and very indiscreet account of his thirty-year friendship with the defining artist of our time.

Michael Peppiatt met Francis Bacon in June 1963 in Soho's French House to request an interview for a student magazine. Bacon invited him to lunch, and over oysters and Chablis they began a friendship and a no-holds-barred conversation that would continue until Bacon's death in 1992.
For decades, Peppiatt accompanied Bacon on his nightly round of prodigious drinking from grand hotel to louche club and casino, witnessing all aspects of Bacon's 'gilded gutter life'. And despite the chaos Bacon created around him Peppiatt managed to record scores of their conversation, and here he shows Bacon close-up, grand and petty, tender and treacherous by turn, and often quite unlike the myth that has grown up around him.
Today: death, guilt and inspiration.
Reader: Adrian Scarborough
Writer: Michael Peppiatt is an art historian, curator and writer. His 1996 biography of Francis Bacon was chosen as a 'Book of the Year' by the New York Times.
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett.

15 minutes

Credits

Role Contributor
Reader Adrian Scarborough
Author Michael Peppiatt
Abridger Richard Hamilton
Producer Justine Willett

Broadcasts

  • Thu 27 Aug 2015 09:45
  • Fri 28 Aug 2015 00:30

Listen to more Audio Books

Listen to more Audio Books

Including My Sister The Serial Killer, Queenie, The Flatshare and more.

Opening Lines

Opening Lines

John Yorke unpacks the themes behind the stories in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.

Sample our books and authors Clip Collection

Interviews, previews and reviews

Subscribe to the Short stories podcast

Featuring the best stories from the UK's finest writers

How many of these 100 Novels have you read?

How many of these 100 Novels have you read?

After a passionate debate, our panel has come up with this surprising literary selection.

Finding Your Story

Finding Your Story

Ten remarkable novels about identity: Which one will help you discover yourself?

主播大秀 Arts: Books

Celebrating reading and the 100 novels that have shaped our world.