The Late Paintings
8 years ago by
I find the work of Francis Bacon completely mind bending.
His works are so beautiful, slightly surreal, and always evoke an immediate feeling — you know instinctively what your response is to each of his pieces; it’s a little hard to intellectualize his works in the same way you might others’. All of his distorted figures lend a kind of savage beauty to each of his pieces, resting in a backdrop of serene and vibrant color. Sometimes a deep, foreboding red, other times a perfect pink (almost that soft hue we used on the Love board!).
Ok, ok, so you get it. But really, what I wanted to talk about was his current exhibition at the Gagosian in New York. It’s a collection of the paintings he did towards the end of his career, when he lived between London and Paris. They are all so striking, some a little overwhelming — and all framed in large gold frames, which was a mandate of possessing or exhibiting his works. Bacon always asked that they be displayed in an extravagant gold frame.
A total eccentric and one of my favorite artists, the exhibition is definitely definitely worth seeing — and it’s free! Unless you happen to get a little carried away in the museum store like I did, eesh…
You have until this weekend to see it, as the show closes on December 12th!
All details here.
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I have trouble understanding some abstract art here and there but I can relate to when things make you feel some type of way. It’s easiest with music for me – among the arts.
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What is this piece called?
I’m personally a pretty big Bacon fan and have always enjoyed seeing his paintings in the Musee des Beaux Arts in Lyon. His sense of colour and the way he draws shapes as you said evokes such a feeling! A bit bummed I won’t be in New York anytime soon to see this exhibition.
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If you haven’t already, then you must one day visit the Hugh Lane gallery in Dublin to which Bacon’s 7 Reece Mews London studio was donated. The contents were removed and the studio recreated in the gallery.
Il y a quelques années de ça le Centre George Pompidou a fait une exposition de Bacon. Je me rappelle être allée seule et je suis ressortie de l’expo presque 4 heures plus tard tellement ces tableaux m’avaient hypnotisé. Beau, troublant et nourrissant à la fois.
wish it was in LA
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J’avais également été voir la rétrospective de ses oeuvres il y a quelques années à Paris. Ce n’est pas vraiment le mot “beau” qui me vient à l’esprit. Son oeuvre est surtout dérangeante, puissante, ses tableaux transpirent la souffrance psychique : la série des papes notamment m’avait glacé. Je m’étais dis que je ne pourrais certainement jamais vivre avec un de ses tableaux accroché aux murs du salon… en même temps, peu probable que çà arrive un jour ;-)
Je vais peut être passée pour une “illuminée” mais c’est bien la première fois que j’ai ressenti lors d’une exposition que des tableaux rayonnent littéralement d’une énergie assez puissante et plutôt plombante, négative. Il faut en faire l’expérience soi-même, sa peinture est vraiment fascinante.
Why don’t you show it with the gold frame as well on the blog ? ! ;)
I really enjoy these cultural posts and would love to see more!
The timing was perfect for me-yesterday after seeing the fashion exhibit at the Met I stopped by to see the Francis Bacon paintings. The one you show is my favorite!
Thanks for the info!