Partner Francis Bacon

Queer Places:
City of London Cemetery and Crematorium Newham, London Borough of Newham, Greater London, England

George Dyer (December, 1934 – October 24, 1971) was an artist's model. A small-time crook, he met the artist Francis Bacon in a pub in Soho and became his companion, as well as the model for many of his paintings.

Bacon’s relationship with George Dyer, whom he met in late 1963, was stormy and ultimately proved tragic.

In October 1971, two days before the opening of Bacon's retrospective at the Grand-Palais in Paris, Dyer was found dead in their hotel room in the Hotel des Saints-Peres. The autopsy reported that death was due either to suicide, or an accidental overdose of barbituates.

Bacon painted portraits of Dyer obsessively, both during his life and after Dyer’s death. Triptych May—June 1973 confronts the moment of Dyer’s death.

In the film "Love and the Devil" (1998), Dyer was played by Daniel Craig.


STUDY OF GEORGE DYER 1971 Oil and dry transfer lettering on canvas 78 x 58 in. (198 x 147.5 cm)


Francis Bacon, Triptych, May – June 1973, 1973



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