Francis Bacon (1909-1992)
What further angle to add? What more to say about the great Francis Bacon (1909-1992)? The National Portrait Gallery presents Francis Bacon: Human Presence just two years after Francis Bacon: Man and Beast, the huge, sprawling retrospective at the Royal Academy of Art (here). Naturally the NPG narrows the focus to the portraiture aspect of Bacon's oeuvre and I think the show is better for having this defined focus. One could argue that the majority of Bacon's work is essentially portraiture, but whether the full figure or the head, Bacon's paintings always pack a visual punch as befits his reputation of one of the greats, if not the greatest artists of the twentieth century. Bacon considered portraiture the most important genre of painting and was in turn influenced by the most eminent artists in genre such as Rembrandt, Velasquez and Van Gogh. Across the exhibition we see Bacon documenting lovers, and friends, from a certain period in time in London's Soho, in what has been described as a 'brutal' style, distorting facial features into a kind of abstraction, but never fully abandoning the figurative/representational thread. In this respect Bacon's portraits are unique personal visions, psychological documents of the human condition after the upheaval of the Second World War. The fact that the subjects still remain recognisable as portraits despite Bacon's wilful distortions is a testament to his artistic skill. I would argue that despite the 'brutality' there is a certain tenderness of touch, and certainly love of the visceral and viscosity of paint in the execution of these works as he carefully applies the brushstrokes and scumbled textures to the canvas. As well as an important painter stylistically, visitors will also come to realise what a great colourist Bacon is too. You see it in the fleshy pinks that loom out of the blacks of the backgrounds of the screaming men, the vibrant oranges, yellows, acid greens and the rich alizarin crimson of the last painting in the exhibition which appears to symbolically represent the blood of his lover George Dyer. That painting - Triptych May-June 1973 is the most powerful in the exhibition and I would argue on a par both artistically and emotively with famous art historical pieces such as Matthias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece. Triptych May-June 1973 depicts the overdose of Bacon's lover George Dyer in a Paris hotel bathroom in 1971 on the eve of the artist's retrospective at Paris's Grand Palais. This event haunted Bacon for the rest of his life, and this painting appears to be an attempt at coming to terms with his loss and exorcising Dyer's ghost. Dyer is depicted as he was found both slumped over a sink, and then doubled over on the toilet succumbing to the bouts of depression that plagued him. In the central panel of the triptych Dyer is deathly pale and an eerie bat-like shadow is cast on the floor. It's like the Grim Reaper come to collect his soul. It is one of the most powerful and saddest pictures that I know, and one that I found too difficult to stay in front of for too long in the exhibition. Triptych May-June 1973's placement as the last painting in the exhibition is not lost in the context of the exhibition subtitle - Human Presence. It is like a memento-mori, a reminder that life is all too fleeting. It is perhaps too great and powerful a meditation on grief and loss.
until 19th January
National Portrait Gallery
St Martin's Place
London,
WC2H 0HE
