"I have never understood why my painting has always been thought of as very extreme and brutal. Don't people observe life? If you think my work is brutal, what do you think about what's going on every hour on television?"

Richard Cork reflects on the nature of Francis Bacon's vision, and the response it excites.
With contributions from the artist, Dawn Ades, Brian Farrell, Richard Francis, Donald Kuspit, David Sylvester and Margaret Walters.

(A retrospective exhibition of works by Francis Bacon opens at The Tate Gallery, London, on 22 May)