Bacon, John

Bacon, John (b London, 24 Nov. 1740; d London, 7 Aug. 1799).
English sculptor. His style was essentially Neoclassical, but he had none of the intellectual interest in the antique that characterized contemporaries such as Banks and Flaxman (unlike them, Bacon never visited Italy). He began his career as a modeller in a porcelain factory and this experience left a permanent mark on him, as his work, even in marble, tends to be soft in feeling, often with much pretty detail. His large output consisted mainly of church monuments, but also included numerous statues and portrait busts. In addition he worked as chief designer to the Coade artificial stone company from 1771. His career was helped by the favouritism of George III, of whom he produced a portrait in 1774 (Windsor Castle and other versions), and one of his most conspicuous works is George III and the River Thames (1780–6) in the courtyard of Somerset House, London (this is unusual in being in bronze at a time when English sculptors favoured marble almost exclusively for monumental work). The king helped him to gain the commission for his largest work, the monument to William Pitt, Earl of Chatham (1779–83), in Westminster Abbey. His finest work is the much smaller and more intimate monument to Thomas Guy (1779) in Guy's Hospital, showing the founder of the hospital succouring a sick man. Bacon ran a large workshop, whose efficiency was aided by an improved pointing machine he devised. The practice was carried on by his son John the Younger (1777–1859).