According to his cousin and close friend Diana Watson, the mind of artist Francis Bacon seldom moved from the facts of love, death, massacre and madness . Now, decades on from Bacon s death in 1992, Pulitzer-prize winning critics Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan not only explore Bacon s preoccupation with those powerful themes in their authoritative and fascinating biography, but offer us a chronological and in-depth account of his background, life and times.
Like all great biographies, the figure centre stage is seen in the context of the zeitgeist. In this instance, family wealth, social mores, politics and sexuality colour, inform and determine Bacon s Irish upbringing, his time in Berlin, Paris and London and how he, with little or no formal education or training, turned from designer to artist.
Based in Castlemery, Cloyne,in east Cork, Anthony Cronin is a full-time carpenter with a keen interest in classic and vintage machinery, Ford and John Deere brands in particular.
Anthony has fond memories of the many Ford tractors owned by local farmers and contractors. It was his grandfather who sparked his interest in the blue brand growing up. A through and through Ford man, he had a Ford 2000 and later a 3000 model on the farm.
Anthony later inherited his grandfather’s Ford 3000 which was in need of some repair. In 2010, Anthony tidied up the tractor mechanically and cosmetically. It’s regularly used at garden work, ploughing or powering a rotavator. This project gave Anthony a taste for restoring tractors.