About People

1
About People

• Francis Bacon

2
Enduring Understanding

• Students will understand that artworks
• do encapsulate the themes of
• identity and relationships in a
• variety of ways

3
5W1H
4
Essential Questions
Overarching Questions What is a portrait? How can
relationships within a family or community be
shaped? How do artists form identity and
relationships with their art?
Topical Questions What is existence? What is
emptiness? What is space? How does
photography Engage us with our world?
5
Who

• 1909 Born in 28 October in Dublin, Ireland.
• 1928-29 He started work as an interior
  designer.
• 1935 He visited Paris and saw for the first of
  many times the movie Battleship Potemkin.
• 1992 He died at the age of 82 in Spain.

6
When

• 1914-18 World War I.
• 1916 Sinn Féin Movement
• 1925 The release of Sergei Eisensteins
  Battleship Potemkin.
• 1927 Picassos exhibition in at the Gallerie
  Paul Rosenberg, Paris.
• 1927 The release of Fritz Langs Metropolis.
• 1939-45 World War II.

7
Which

• Figurative Expressionism
• First influenced by the works of Picasso.
• Later by Surrealism.
• His style is expressionistic.
• He developed a distinctive style as a figure
  painter.
• His signature- distorting his human form.

8
What

• Subject Matter
• Human forms
• His figures are usually distorted beyond
  recognition.
• Animal forms
• Crucifixion
• This functions like an armature for him to
  suspend all types of emotions and feelings
  (Guggenheim). It has come to symbolize universal
  suffering and individual pain over the years.
• Meat
• Bacon saw connection between the brutality of
  the slaughterhouses and crucifixion
  (Guggenheim).

9
What

• Theme
• The inescapable fact of death.
• To quote him, I have a feeling of mortality
  all the time, because if life excites you, its
  opposite, like a shadow, death, must excite you.
  (Schmied, 2006, p. 7)
• Existential anxiety of modern man.
• Human condition and suffering.

10
Crucifixion, 1933 Oil on canvas, 62 x 48.5
cm Private Collection
His first original work.
11
Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a
Crucifixion, 1944 Oil and pastel on cardboard, 94
x 74 cm each Tate Gallery, London
12

• Second Version of Triptych 1944  1988Oil and
  acrylic on canvas, 198 x 147.5 cm each
• Tate Gallery, London

13
What

•  Three Studies for a Crucifixion, 1962 Oil and
  acrylic on canvas, 198 x 147.5 cm each
• Tate Gallery, London

14
What- Three Studies for Figures

• The crucified figure on the right panel is
  slithering downwards resembling the Christ form
  from Cimabues Crucifixion.
• His intention with the painting is to evoke
  emotionally and perceptually.
• The figure is butchered open, like the
• carcass of an animal.
• This is similarly the fate of all humans
• that we know but do not confront.
• The slabs of meat on the left panel
• reinforces this.

Crucifixion, c.1270s By Giovanni Cimabue Tempera
on wood panel
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Painting, 1946 Oil and pastel on linen, 197.8 x
132.1 cm MoMA, New York
16
Head I, 1948 Oil and tempera on wood, 100.3 x 75
cm collection Richard S. Zeisler, New York
17
Head VI, 1949 Oil on canvas, 93 x 76.5 cm Arts
Council Collection, Hayward Gallery, London
18
Portrait of Pope Innocent X
Portrait of Pope Innocent X, 1650 by Diego
Velázquez Oil on canvas Galleria Doria-Pamphili,
Rome
Francis Bacons obsession with Velázquezs
painting generated a total of forty-five works
on the Pope. Two recurring trademarks of his
Popes- gaping mouth and elevation of the figure
as if on a stage.
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Why

• Influence- Diego Velázquez (16xx - )
• A Spanish painter in the court of King Phillip
  IV.
• He belonged to the Baroque period.
• He painted many portraits of the Spanish royal
  family.
• He also painted other notable European figures
  and commoners.
• He also painted historical and cultural scenes.
• His most famous work- Les Meninas, 1656-57 (see
  next slide).

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Les Meninas
Les Meninas, 1656-57 by Diego Velázquez Oil on
canvas, 318 x 276 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
21
The Scream
http//newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40324000/jpg
/_40324011_potempkin203.jpg
Study after Velázquez, 1950 Oil on canvas, 198 x
137.2 cm Private Collection
Battleship Potemkin has influence many artists
and film-makers.
Study for the Head of a Screaming Pope , 1952 Oil
on canvas, 50 x 40.5 cm Yale University, New Haven
22
Why

• His Influence- Edvard Munch (1863 1944)
• A Norwegian Symbolist painter and printmaker.
• A forerunner in Expressionistic art.
• His exploration revolves around the theme of
  life, love, fear and death, as well as
  melancholy.
• Symbolism- late 19th century art movement.
• Attempts to depict the symbols of ideas and
  emotions- often ambiguous and mysterious rather
  then precise and forthcoming.

23
The Scream
The Scream, 1893 Oil tempera and pastel on
cardboard, 48 x 44 cm by Edvard Munch National
Gallery, Oslo, Norway
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Inspired by van Gogh
Study for a Portrait of Van Gogh V, 1957 oil and
sand on canvas, 198 x 142 cmHirshhorn Museum and
Sculpture Garden Smithsonian Institution,
Washington D.C.
Study for Portrait of Van Gogh VI, 1957 oil on
canvas, 198.1 x 142.2 cmLondon, Arts Council
collection and Hayward Gallery
Untitled (Landscape after Van Gogh), 1957 oil on
canvas, 127 x 101.6 cm
25
Vincent van Gogh (1853 1890 )
The Painter on His Way to Work, 1888 by Vincent
van Gogh Oil on canvas, 48 x 44 cm Destroyed by
fire in WWII.
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Study for Self Portrait
Study for Self Portrait, 1976Oil and pastel on
canvas,198 x 147.5 cm Art Gallery of New South
Wales
When Im dead, put me in a plastic bag and throw
me in the gutter. (Schmied, 2006, p.8)
27
In Memory of Peter Lacy
Landscape near Malabata, 1963 oil on canvas,
198.1 x 144.8 cm Private Collection
Peter Lacy was one of his lovers who committed
suicide. He died the night before the opening day
of his major exhibition at Tate Gallery.
Malabata, Tangier is the final resting place of
Lacy.
28
In Memory of George Dryer
In Memory of Geroge Dryer, 1971
29
The March?
http//www.bluecrabboulevard.com/Images_2007/Sep_O
ct/metropolis_drones.jpg
Still from Fritz Langs Metropolis
Untitled (Marching Figures), c. 1950 Oil on
canvas, 198 x 137cm The Estate of Francis Bacon
30
Metropolis

• A German Science-fiction silent movie by Fritz
  Lang.
• It is set in an urban dystopia (the opposite of
  utopia).
• It explores the social issues of capitalism.
• The theme and cinematic style relates to German
  Expressionism.

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On Animals
Study of a Baboon, 195. Oil on canvas, 198 x
137cm MoMA, New York
Study for Chimpanzee, 1957 Oil and pastel on
canvas, 152.4 x 117cm Peggy Guggenheim Collection
32
Man in Blue IV
Man in Blue IV, 1954 Oil on canvas, 198 x 137
cm MUMOK, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig
Wien

• This is one of the seven paintings in a series,
  titled Man in Blue I VII.
• A treatment that is the most reductive.

33
Lying Figure in the Mirror
Lying Figure in Mirror, 1971 oil on canvas, 198
x 147.5 cmMuseo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao,
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Mirrors or Windows?
Two Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer, 1968
oil on canvas, 197.5 x 147.6 cmArt Museum
Ateneum, collection Sara Hildén, Helsinki
Study for a Nude with Figure in a Mirror, 1969
oil on canvas, 198 x 147.5 cmprivate collection
35
Landscape
Landscape, 1978 oil and pastel on canvas, 198 x
147.5 cm Private Collection
36
A Piece of Waste Land
A Piece of Waste Land, 1982 oil on canvas, 198 x
147.5 cm Ivor Braka Ltd (London)
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Why

• Inside Influence- His Background
• His family shifted between England and Ireland in
  his early life- affected him with a sense of
  displacement throughout his life.
• His grandmothers house near Abbeyleix- bow-ended
  rooms (see slides ).
• He was a shy child whose effeminacy enraged his
  father- their relationship was thus estranged.
• His father was also known to be argumentative and
  quarrelsome.
• He suffered from chronic asthma since young.
• His sexual orientation- homosexual.

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Why

• Inside Influence- His Background
• He worked as an interior designer.
• He volunteered in Civil Defence during World War
  II. His duties- fire-fighting, civilian rescue
  and recovery of the dead.
• His trip to Africa where his mother and sisters
  emigrated to.
• Bacon led a bohemian life- of alcohol, gambling
  and a string of intimate and anguished
  relationships, some were even self-destructive.

39
Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards
Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards,
1984 oil on canvas, 198 x 147.5 cm
(each)private collection
40
Spot the pattern
Study for Portrait of Lucian Freud (Sideways),
1971 Oil on canvas, 198 x 147.5 cm Private
Collection
Figure in Movement, 1976 oil on canvas, 198 x
147.5 cmprivate collection
Self-Portrait, 1973 oil on canvas, 198 x 147.5
cmprivate collection
41
Interior Design
Studies of the Human Body Triptych, 1970 The
Centre Piece
Study for Portrait, 1970
42
Why

• Outside Influences
• Nicolas Poussins Massacre of the Innocents-
  great impact on him (see slides 45 48).
• He visited Picassos exhibition in 1927 at the
  Gallerie Paul Rosenberg, Paris.
• The poems of T.S. Elliot and his play The Family
  Reunion.
• The Oresteia- Greek trilogy written by Aeschylus,
  especially W.B. Stanfords translation. It is
  about the bloody chain of murder and revenge
  within a royal family. The underworld mythical
  agents known as Furies inspired Three Studies for
  Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion.
• Photography is a salient influence
• Eadweard Muybridge (see slides 50 51).

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Why

• Outside Influence- Nicolas Poussin (1594 1665)
• A classical artist of 17th century France.
• At 18, he left Normandy for Paris where he
  developed a love for the works of classical
  antiquity.
• He arrived in Rome, Italy in 1624 and lived the
  rest of his life there.
• His subject matter- mythologies, landscapes and
  biblical scenes.
• His works eventually formed the basis of Academic
  painting in France for the next two centuries.

44
Massacre of the Innocents
Massacre of the Innocents, c. 1628-29 by Nicolas
Poussin Oil on canvas, 147 x 171 cm Château de
Chantilly (Musée Condé)
The screaming mother trying to protect her
infant- probably the best human cry ever
painted.
45
More works on the incident
The Holy Innocents, 1304-06 by Giotto di Bondone
(c. 1267 - 1337) Fresco, South Wall Scrovegni
(also Arena) Chapel, Padua Italy
46
What

• An incident that appears in the Gospel of Matthew
  (one of the scriptures of the New Testament).
• It refers to the infanticide by Herod the Great
  (a Roman client king of Judaea).
• Herod ordered the execution of all young male
  children in Bethlehem, to counter-defend his
  throne from the prophesized new king of the
  Jews.

47
Photography

• Photography as a phenomenon.
• His studio was strewn with photographs- pinned on
  the walls, on the floor, piled along with empty
  tubes of paint.
• Photography as a means to study the real world,
  closely and then capture reality with greater
  intensity.
• As a result, it became an instrument for him to
  distort reality rather than reproducing photo in
  detail with precise accuracy like the Pop
  artists, or embarking on a journey that focus on
  the essence of things like the abstract
  artists.
• One captivating quality of photography for Bacon
  is its ability to capture and depict movement.
• John Deakins portraits of other close friends
  like Lucian Freud and others.

48
Influenced by Eadweard Muybridge
Dog,1952 Oil on canvas, 198 x 137 cm Tate
Gallery, London
Man with Dog,1953 Oil on canvas, 152.4 x 116.8
cm The Albright-Knox Gallery, New York
Muybridges Animals in Motion
49
His Nudes
Untitled (Two Figures in the Grass, c. 1952 Oil
on canvas, 147.3 x 132.2 cm The Estate of Francis
Bacon
The human figure in motion by Muybridge.
Two Figures, 1953 Oil on canvas, 152.5 x 116.5
cm Private Collection
50
20th Century- An Age of Violence

• Technological progress.
• The horrors of human nature.
• Modern-day problems- television sets, hypodermic
  syringes

51
How

• He painted on unprimed side of the canvas. He
  discovered that this held the paint with more
  bite, texture ended up enhanced and allowed the
  thinner to soak into the canvas.
• He liked to present his works in diptychs or
  triptychs which are traditional forms of
  religious paintings for the purpose of disjoining
  the narrative.
• He worked with easels despite the changing time.

52
How

• He distorted his figures, influenced by the
  biomorphs of Picassos works.
• The human flesh is depicted as nothing but meat.
• His background depicts some interior setting.
• He provided viewers in his works a tremendous
  experience of space- the use of mirrors/windows,
  indeterminate space, shadows and ambiguity.

53
Resources

• Schmied, W. (2006) Francis Bacon, Commitment and
  Conflict. Prestel Verlaq Munich.
• http//www.francis-bacon.com/
• http//www.leninimports.com/francis_bacon_gallery.
  html
• http//www.queer-arts.org/bacon/bacon.html
• http//en.wikipedia.org/
• http//www.artchive.com/
• http//www.artcyclopedia.com/