The large retrospective exhibition currently hanging in Tate Britain is the third in a series through which the Tate Gallery has paid homage to Francis Bacon. It endeavours (more or less chronologically) to represent the key moments of Bacon’s artistic development with the sixty works on display. Yet even in the first room, certain problems arise. The earliest exhibited works are only from the mid forties. Chris Stevens, the show’s curator explains the absence of any paintings from the thirties by saying that: “Bacon was so organised in the destruction of his earlier work, that hardly anything has survived; and those that have only managed to do so because they were out of Bacon’s reach”.
The introductory series of sc
reaming heads is followed by a set of screaming figures, re-workings of Velazquez’ “Portrait of Pope Innocent X.” One can almost hear the screams of Bacon’s popes; their deformed bodies, almost obscured by fragments of other objects, have different expressions, and are often enclosed, as if imprisoned in a cage-like structure. Bacon succeeded in depicting a striking sense of uncertainty and a plague of inner doubt concealed behind a mask of elevated formality in these paintings. Bacon was deeply fascinated by the work of the old Spanish master, but ironically it would appear that he never actually set eyes upon Velazquez’ original, having always only worked from reproductions.
The introductory series of sc
reaming heads is followed by a set of screaming figures, re-workings of Velazquez’ “Portrait of Pope Innocent X.” One can almost hear the screams of Bacon’s popes; their deformed bodies, almost obscured by fragments of other objects, have different expressions, and are often enclosed, as if imprisoned in a cage-like structure. Bacon succeeded in depicting a striking sense of uncertainty and a plague of inner doubt concealed behind a mask of elevated formality in these paintings. Bacon was deeply fascinated by the work of the old Spanish master, but ironically it would appear that he never actually set eyes upon Velazquez’ original, having always only worked from reproductions. 
One of the highlights of the current exhibition is the fourth room, labelled ‘CRUCIFIXION’. This contains three triptychs and one smaller painting with a biblical theme. Bacon, an avowed atheist, did not explain the works in a religious way, but as studies of human behaviour; a mixture of brutality and fear, combined with a deep fascination for ritualistic sacrifice. Bacon’s triptych “Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion” of 1944 remains to this day one of the most powerful and emotionally moving paintings both of Bacon’s oeuvre, and in European painting as a whole. The three figures on an orange background are deformed to such an extent that they have metamorphosed into strange beasts, whose heads have been reduced to gaping mouths emitting horrendous screams. The other two triptychs dealing with a similar theme clearly reveal that the source of inspiration were the horrors of the war; for example a swastika can be observed on the arm of one of the figures.
Studies and Experimentation
The room that follows holds a remarkable surprise. It presents a turnin
g point, if not a 180 then certainly a 90-degree turn. The room has been aptly entitled ‘CRISIS’. The post war art scene was dominated by abstract expressionism and even Bacon could not resist flirting with new approaches as is demonstrated in a series of canvases inspired by van Gogh’s painting of “The Painter on the Road to Tarascon” (1888). At the time of its creation, Bacon’s new direction was well received, but soon afterwards was criticised, and from today’s perspective it is also difficult to consider it as anything other than an ill-judged path taken by a great painter. Nevertheless, this exhibition’s curators should be commended for not hesitating to include works from the artist’s less certain periods. In no way does it suggest a diminishment in Bacon’s talent. Rather it adds another dimension to our understanding of his continual process of searching and experimentation.
The room that follows holds a remarkable surprise. It presents a turnin
g point, if not a 180 then certainly a 90-degree turn. The room has been aptly entitled ‘CRISIS’. The post war art scene was dominated by abstract expressionism and even Bacon could not resist flirting with new approaches as is demonstrated in a series of canvases inspired by van Gogh’s painting of “The Painter on the Road to Tarascon” (1888). At the time of its creation, Bacon’s new direction was well received, but soon afterwards was criticised, and from today’s perspective it is also difficult to consider it as anything other than an ill-judged path taken by a great painter. Nevertheless, this exhibition’s curators should be commended for not hesitating to include works from the artist’s less certain periods. In no way does it suggest a diminishment in Bacon’s talent. Rather it adds another dimension to our understanding of his continual process of searching and experimentation. The centre of the exhibition is called ‘ARCHIVE’. This smaller room, evocative of a studio atmosphere presents dozens of photographs, sketches, notes and drawings which Bacon cr
eated in the preparatory stages of working on a piece. Thousands of such examples were found in his studio, dispelling the myth that the artist himself spread; that his works were creations of spontaneous inspiration, products of his subconscious, executed without preparation. Ranging from reproductions of Michelangelo’s drawings, newspaper clippings with pictures of boxers, bullfighters and cricketers to a specially commissioned series of photographs of men wrestling, these preparatory materials also include pictures of the artists’ friends and lovers. In the room that follows it is hard not to be reminded of these photographs, as many of the paintings have, at times, evidently been directly or indirectly inspired by them.
eated in the preparatory stages of working on a piece. Thousands of such examples were found in his studio, dispelling the myth that the artist himself spread; that his works were creations of spontaneous inspiration, products of his subconscious, executed without preparation. Ranging from reproductions of Michelangelo’s drawings, newspaper clippings with pictures of boxers, bullfighters and cricketers to a specially commissioned series of photographs of men wrestling, these preparatory materials also include pictures of the artists’ friends and lovers. In the room that follows it is hard not to be reminded of these photographs, as many of the paintings have, at times, evidently been directly or indirectly inspired by them. The Mature Work
If we consider the room labelled ‘CRUCIFIXION’ to be one of the highest points of the exhibition, then the other would undoubtedly be the series of triptychs created after the tragic death of George Dyer. Intense grief combined with lingering feelings of guilt gave rise to a set of truly remarkable works, portraying Dyer in a range of situations, including his last moments. “Trip
tych May-June 1973” is especially emotive; the two side canvases portray Dyer in a bathroom, sitting on the toilet in front of a sink, apparently vomiting into it. The central canvas presents the figure of Bacon’s dying lover beneath a light bulb, his shadow strangely being transformed into a giant bat.
If we consider the room labelled ‘CRUCIFIXION’ to be one of the highest points of the exhibition, then the other would undoubtedly be the series of triptychs created after the tragic death of George Dyer. Intense grief combined with lingering feelings of guilt gave rise to a set of truly remarkable works, portraying Dyer in a range of situations, including his last moments. “Trip
tych May-June 1973” is especially emotive; the two side canvases portray Dyer in a bathroom, sitting on the toilet in front of a sink, apparently vomiting into it. The central canvas presents the figure of Bacon’s dying lover beneath a light bulb, his shadow strangely being transformed into a giant bat. The enjoyment of the remaining rooms is complicated by a number of factors. The prevalence of true masterpieces in many preceding rooms causes the eye of the beholder to become somewhat tired by the time Bacon’s later works are reached. Perhaps even more than the eye it is the mind that grows weary. After all the works one has been exposed to are not idyllic pastoral landscape scenes. Rather the visitor is engaged in an aggressive aesthetic struggle. Besides this, it should be said that the later works could be seen as becoming a little repetitive, as if the artist had achieved perfection on the technical plane, yet experienced a plateau, an ebb even, in terms of new content. That said this does not lessen in any way the phenomenal contribution that Francis Bacon has made to the art of the 20th century. One might be reminded that even Pablo Picasso experienced a similar plateau of self-emulation towards the end of his life.
Curators: Matthew Gale, Chris Stephens
Tate Britain, London; 11.09.2008 - 04.01.2009
Published in Art & Antiques, October 2008 (http://www.artantiques.cz/)
No comments:
Post a Comment