George Dyer Bacon and Dyer had a complex sexual relationship lasting almost seven years. When they met in 1964, Bacon was already a famous artist. Their relationship elevated Dyer out of a life of petty crime and gave him respect and status. From being a nobody, Dyer was suddenly the bosom friend of a star. Bacon bore his fame lightly, but Dyer found it difficult to handle. Especially Bacon's extravagant - and hard-drinking - lifestyle. On 24 October 1971, on the evening before Francis Bacon's major retrospective in the Grand Palais in Paris, Dyer committed suicide in his hotel room. It was a tragedy, but the news of his death was not entirely unexpected. He had attempted suicide a number of times before, but Bacon had always found him in the nick of time. When he was under the influence of alcohol, Dyer went completely out of control and became destructive. He dried out several times, but relapsed into his old drinking habits in Paris. Bacon was completely preoccupied by the preparations for his exhibition and paid little attention to his friend. "If I'd have stayed with him rather than going to see about the exhibition he would be here now", he was later to say. His feelings of guilt would haunt him for the rest of his life. Bacon had regularly painted Dyer in the past and continued to do so after his death. He said it was a way of remembering him.