Francis Bacon at the Met
“Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion,” ca. 1944
Francis Bacon was an artist who was never shy about letting his inner turmoil spill out onto the page.
From his early painting, “Crucifixion” (1933), a response to his burgeoning atheism, to the later “Tryptic – In Memory of George Dyer” (1971), which commemorated his lover’s suicide, Bacon put his personal conflicts out there for the world to see.
On the 100th anniversary of his birth, the Met looks back at the body of work Bacon left behind.
The British artist was active up until his death in 1992, but he destroyed the bulk of his output from before the mid-40s. “Crucifixion,” a rare survival, kicks off the exhibition, but is the only work from before 1944 on view.
Walking through the retrospective is like wandering through the fantastically diseased imaginings of someone who is troubled but wickedly clever. At an early age, Bacon rejected religion in favor of a Nietzsche-tinged Existentialism. The figures he depicts are angry and helpless, often with screaming mouths and distorted limbs. Grotesque forms sit on spare backdrops, often enclosed in some sort of cage.
The paintings in and of themselves are remarkable. Though Bacon was self-taught, he was technically adept, and his compositions are fascinating.
The exhibit continues to resonate with contemporary viewers beyond that. When Bacon was working post-WWII and through the Cold War, there was a pervasive atmosphere of fear and unrest, not so dissimilar from our current situation. His dread, unfortunately, is our dread.
It’s a lot to take in, but never becomes overwhelming. The work is given room to breathe in the Met’s ample galleries, and the viewer is given time to digest.
If one can stand further immersion, the audioguide is particularly well done, and features audio excerpts of Bacon himself, in addition to discussions of his work and life by the exhibition curators.
