Francis Bacon and Michael Peppiatt were close friends for over thirty years. As Peppiatt, the editor of this volume, tells us in his illuminating Introduction, the two would regularly embark on night-time “odysseys around London and Paris”, “ordering extravagant vintages, raising toasts to all and sundry, talking and laughing immoderately.”

Francis Bacon’s conversation was witty, provocative, and profound. In this volume, his long-time friend, curator, chronicler, and biographer has gathered Bacon’s most memorable aphorisms, evoking both the force of the artist’s personality and the range of his interests.

These sayings, assembled for the first time in Only Too Much Is Enough, form a brilliant accompaniment to Bacon’s works, conveying not only a sceptical and sometimes disquieting outlook on human relationships, but also keen insights into his creative process.

Praise for Francis Bacon: Anatomy of an Enigma:

Michael Peppiatt’s biography has long been viewed by Bacon scholars as the definitive life of a fascinatingly flawed figure. -- Alex Larman * The Guardian *
Praise for Francis Bacon in Your Blood:

The best art memoir published in years. * The Spectator *

Michael Peppiatt left London in 1966 for a job as arts editor at Réalités then Le Monde in Paris, where he lived at the heart of the art and literary world for the following thirty years. In 1985 he bought Art International, relaunching the magazine from his apartment in Paris. Peppiatt is the author of a dozen books, including Francis Bacon: Anatomy of an Enigma, In Giacometti’s Studio, Interviews With Artists, and the acclaimed memoir, Francis Bacon in Your Blood.