The artistic temperament has always been one that has thrived on the sense of risk. After all, what could be more precarious than deciding to devote your life, and pin your livelihood, to creating paintings or sculptures in the hope that your work will soon find critical and commercial acclaim?

For two artists in particular this love of the random and unexpected also manifested itself as an overpowering interest in gambling. The fact that Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud were not only friends but also two of the greatest figurative painters of the 20th century makes their story all the more remarkable.

Francis Bacon’s love of gambling manifested itself at the roulette table. As a lover of drink and a leading figure in the then bohemian world of London’s Soho district, Bacon used to like to round off a day’s carousing with a trip to the local casino.



Toulette appealed to Bacon because of its randomness and he related it to the way that artistic inspiration was random in the same way. It’s possible that if Bacon were alive today - he died in 1992 - he would show an equal passion for online casinos. These would have allowed him to play his beloved roulette while still ensconced in a favorite drinking club just as anyone can today in a wide range of Canadian casinos about which you’ll find more info when you click here.

Turning to Freud, while he was initially most strongly influenced by surrealism, for the bulk of his 60-year career he concentrated on painting portraits of family members and friends.

His method was notoriously rigorous for both himself and his subjects who often had to endure many hours posing for him as he strove for perfection. His bold and unsettling style of painting also walked a fine tightrope between true artistic expression and commercial popularity. Luckily, he soon found an appreciative following.

From his earliest days as an artist, Freud loved to gamble and whenever he received money for a painting one of the first places he would head for was the nearest racetrack. Freud reportedly loved not just the excitement of the races but also the chance to mix with the jockeys, owners and fellow spectators. He considered 8 to be his lucky number, so his bets tended to be multiples of this.

There are also many tales of him persuading bookmakers to accept paintings as payment for his bets, and those that accepted can hardly have anticipated just how valuable those paintings would one day turn out to be.

Of course, some might say that dabbling in the art market itself represents a considerable leap of faith as well. In both this and gambling you are hoping, against the odds, to come out on top, so perhaps it’s not so surprising that there have always been such strong links between the two activities.