"Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective" @ Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

Triptych Inspired by T. S. Eliot’s Poem “Sweeney Agonistes” Oil on canvas, 198 x 147.5 cm. 1967. New York, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation 1972.

NEW YORK, NY.- The first major New York exhibition in 20 years devoted to Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992)—one of the most important painters of the 20th century—will be presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from May 20 through August 16, 2009. Marking the 100th anniversary of the artist's birth, Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective will bring together the most significant works from each period of the artist's remarkable career. Drawn from public and private collections around the world, this landmark exhibition will consist of some 65 paintings, complemented by never-before-seen works and archival material from the Francis Bacon Estate, which will shed new light on the artist's career and working practices. The Metropolitan Museum is the sole U.S. venue of the exhibition tour.

"Bacon is more compelling than ever: despite the passage of time, his paintings remain fresh, urgent, and mysterious. Never before has this work been more relevant to young artists," noted Gary Tinterow, Engelhard Chairman of the Metropolitan Museum's Department of Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art. "For these reasons, we are very pleased to be able to present a retrospective spanning his entire career to our viewing public."

Entirely self-taught, Francis Bacon emerged in 1945 as a major force in British painting. He rose to prominence over the subsequent 45 years, securing his reputation as one of the seminal artists of his generation. With a predilection for shocking imagery, Bacon's oeuvre was dominated by emotionally charged depictions of the human body that are among the most powerful images in the history of art.

The exhibition's loosely chronological structure will trace critical themes in Bacon's work and explore his philosophy about mankind and the modern condition with visually arresting examples. The earliest group of works, from the 1940s and '50s, focuses on the animalistic qualities of man, including: paintings of heads with snarling mouths (Head I, 1947–1948, The Metropolitan Museum of Art); images of men as pathetic and alone (Study for a Portrait, 1953, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany); and the human figure portrayed as base and bestial (Figures in a Landscape, 1956, Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery, England). The exhibition also features numerous versions of Bacon's iconic studies (1949–1953) after Diego Velázquez's Portrait of Innocent X (1650). Mortality is addressed directly in his last works (Triptych, 1991, The Museum of Modern Art, New York).

In the 1960s, working in his classic style of much looser, colorful, and expressive painting, Bacon showed the human body exposed and violated as in, for example, Lying Figure, 1969 (Foundation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland). In the following decade he increasingly used narrative, autobiography, and myth to mediate ideas about violence and emotion, as in the 1971 painting In Memory of George Dyer (Foundation Beyeler) and Triptych Inspired by the Orestia of Aeschylus, 1981 (Astrup Fearnley Collection, Oslo, Norway).

A number of important works by Bacon will only be presented at the Metropolitan Museum, including Study for Portrait I, 1953 (Denise and Andrew Saul); Painting, 1946 (The Museum of Modern Art, New York); and Self Portrait, 1973 (private collection, courtesy Richard Nagy, London).

Central to an understanding of the artist's working methods are the large caches of archival materials that have only become available since Bacon's death, especially the contents of the artist's famously cluttered London studio. A rich selection of 65 items from the studio, his estate, and other archives will be included in the exhibition. The objects include pages the artist tore from books and magazines, photographs, and sketches—all of which are source materials for the finished paintings on view in the exhibition.

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992) Painting, 1946. Oil and pastel on linen; 77 7/8 x 52 in. (197.8 x 132.1 cm) The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1948. Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992) Head I, 1947–1948. Oil and tempera on board; 39 1/2 x 29 1/2 in. (100.3 x 74.9 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Richard S. Zeisler, 2007 (2007.247.1) © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992) Head III, 1949. Oil on canvas. 32 x 26 in. (81.3 x 66 cm) Private collection, courtesy Acquavella Galleries, New York © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992) Head VI, 1949. Oil on canvas. 36 11/16 x 30 1/8 in. (93.2 x 76.5 cm) Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992) Study after Velazquez, 1950. Oil on canvas; 77 15/16 x 54 in. (198 x 137.2 cm) The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Collection © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992) Study for a Portrait, 1953. Oil on canvas; 59 15/16 x 46 7/16 in. (152.2 x 118 cm) Hamburger Kunsthalle © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Study for Portrait I, 1953. Oil on canvas; 59 7/8 x 46 1/2 in. (152.1 x 118.1 cm) Denise and Andrew Saul © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Study of a Baboon, 1953. Oil on canvas; 78 1/8 x 54 1/8 in. (198.4 x 137.5 cm) The Museum of Modern Art, New York. James Thrall Soby Bequest, 1979. Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Three Studies for a Crucifixion, March 1962. Oil with sand on canvas; three panels, 78 x 57 in. (198.1 x 144.8 cm) each. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (64.1700) © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Three Figures in a Room, 1964. Oil on canvas; 77 15/16 x 57 7/8 in. (198 x 147 cm) each. Centre Pompidou, Paris. Musée national d'art moderne / Centre de creation industrielle. Achat de l'Etat 1968, attribution 1976
Photo: Philippe Migeat © CNAC/MNAM/Dist. Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne Standing in a Street in Soho, 1967. Oil on canvas; 77 15/16 x 58 1/16 in. (198 x 147.5 cm) Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Two Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer, 1968. Oil on canvas; 77 15/16 x 58 1/16 in. (198 x 147.5 cm) Sara Hildén Foundation / Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Portrait of Michel Leiris, 1976. Oil on canvas; 13 3/8 x 11 7/16 in. (34 x 29 cm). Centre Pompidou, Paris. Musée national d'art moderne / Centre de creation industrielle. Donation Louise and Michel Leiris, 1984. Photo: Philippe Migeat © CNAC/MNAM/Dist. Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Three Studies for a Self-Portrait, 1979–1980. Oil on canvas; 14 3/4 x 12 1/2 in. (37.5 x 31.8 cm) each. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, 1998 (1999.363.1a–c) © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), A Piece of Wasteland, 1982. Oil on canvas; 77 15/16 x 58 1/16 in. (198 x 147.5 cm). Private collection, courtesy of Ivor Braka, Ltd. © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Portrait of John Edwards, 1988. Oil on canvas; 77 15/16 x 58 1/16 in. (198 x 147.5 cm). The Estate of Francis Bacon, courtesy Faggionato Fine Arts, London, and Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Jet of Water, 1988. Oil on canvas; 77 15/16 x 58 1/16 in. (198 x 147.5 cm) Collection of Mr. and Mrs. J. Tomilson Hill © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Blood on Pavement, 1988. Oil on canvas; 77 15/16 x 58 1/16 in. (198 x 147.5 cm) Private collection © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Triptych, 1991. Oil on canvas; 78 x 58 1/8 in. (198.1 x 147.6 cm) each. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. William A. M. Burden Fund and Nelson A. Rockefeller. Bequest Fund (both by exchange), 2003. Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art / Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

"Men Wrestling," lower half of plate 69 from Eadweard Muybridge’s The Human Figure in Motion (originally published Philadelphia, 1887; New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1955) . Book leaf with paint additions. Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

John Deakin (British, 1912–1972), George Dyer in the Reece Mews Studio, ca. 1964. Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992), Photobooth portraits of Francis Bacon, George Dyer, and David Plante, taken in Aix-en-Provence, mounted to the inside cover of a book , ca. 1966–1967. Gelatin silver prints collaged to a book cover; 10 3/16 x 8 11/16 in. (25.9 x 22 cm). The Estate of Francis Bacon, courtesy Faggionato Fine Arts, London, and Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York © 2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London

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