“Francis Bacon: The Beauty of Flesh”, on view until July, presents the visceral and provocative universe of one of the greatest artists of the 20th century
Since its opening in March, the exhibition “Francis Bacon: The Beauty of Flesh” has been acclaimed not only for displaying iconic works by one of the masters of European painting, but also for inviting the public to a series of reflections on human conditions. It is the first time that Bacon has been exhibited individually in Brazil. With a queer focus on his work, the exhibition is part of MASP’s annual program, which in 2024 is dedicated to Stories of LGBTQIA + diversity. Bringing together 23 paintings produced between 1947 and 1988, curated by Adriano Pedrosa and Laura Cosendey and assisted by Isabela Ferreira Loures. The works presented at the Brazilian institution came from museums such as Tate (England), MoMA (New York), Metropolitan Museum (New York), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen (Netherlands), Museu Tamayo (Mexico), Fondation Beyeler (Switzerland), Stedelijk Museum (Netherlands), among others.
THE WORK – ‘Study for Self-Portrait’: not even he himself escapes the distortions
The painter
Francis Bacon was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1909. He was a child with asthma, many allergies and little fan of physical activities, a restriction that put him in conflict with his father, an energetic military man. Later, the revelation of his homosexuality led to a definitive break with his family – he was expelled from home at the age of 16, when he was caught trying on his mother’s underwear. In London, he survived with small jobs, an allowance he received from his mother and some theft. From the 1930s onwards, he began his career as an artist.
During his career, he portrayed friends from the bohemian and cultural scene in London, anonymous people he met on the streets and some of his lovers. She painted mainly male figures, in portraits and nudes. He was strongly influenced by the expressionist and surrealist movements (although he denied both terms) and produced work full of personal experiences, but not strictly autobiographical.
It accompanied several changes in the British social context, in which sexual acts between people of the same sex were illegal until 1967. Mixing excitement and violence, it brought together themes such as religiosity and the erotic, arriving at its own way of bringing vigor to carnality. In 1922, his chronic asthma became more severe. He was hospitalized in Spain, where he was visiting one of his lovers, and died at the age of 82, in Madrid.
The panoramic exhibition and Bacon’s singularity
At MASP, his works are arranged without flourishes: the simple exposition allows the magnitude of the brushstrokes to speak for themselves. There are white and green walls that give background to the grandeur of the images, amidst side walls with more works and some important phrases from his career.
“The beauty of the flesh” suggests the painter’s fascination with the human body, but not only that. The subtitle comes from a speech by Bacon (reproduced on the wall of the first room) in an interview with art critic David Sylvester, in 1966. At the time, he expressed his admiration for the beauty of the pieces hanging in butchers’ shops: “When you enter a butcher’s shop , you see the beauty of the flesh, how beautiful the flesh can be, but when you think about it, you also think about all the horror of life, of one living being living off another, the natural pattern of life.”
By presenting, right at the entrance to the space, the duality observed by Bacon, the exhibition prepares the public for the more than twenty paintings that appear in sequence. These are emotionally charged brushstrokes, in which beauty and anguish, life and death, seduction and destruction echo the depths of humanity and provoke our unconscious.
Man in a washbasin, painting by Francis Bacon – Disclosure.
In his works, some expressions appear prominently, among them, the scream. “We come into the world with a scream and often we also die with a scream. Perhaps the scream is the most direct symbol of the human condition”, stated Bacon in 1992. The effect caused by the open mouth delivered the viscerality that the artist was looking for, which inspired him to study this part of the body. In his studio, there were medical books on oral pathologies so he could use the images as reference. There were also records of the photographer John Deakin, who the artist commissioned to paint, as he did not like producing from live models.
One of the main characteristics of Francis Bacon’s work is his ability to transcend aesthetics and penetrate the depths of the human psyche. With distorted, contorted figures, he seems to capture not only the physical form, but also the raw, primal emotions that pulse beneath existence. It is possible to feel anguish, loneliness, desire and vulnerability at the same time. Disfigured faces and fragmented bodies stare at the visitor with a disturbing gaze, challenging them to confront their own fears and desires. Amidst the chaos and carnality of Bacon’s compositions, we find a strange and unsettling beauty.
As a queer man, Bacon had to navigate the norms typical of the conservative environment in which he was raised in pre-war Ireland. In response to this, he subverted religious icons in many of his paintings, such as crucifixes or the figure of the Pope himself. He questioned the authority of Catholic Church leaders and their values, focusing on the issue of repression of homosexuality, which affected him most.
In addition to the traumas and violence suffered in his life, love also served as inspiration for several of Bacon’s paintings. In 1962, on the eve of the opening of his exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London, he received news that his former lover, Peter Lacy, had died. In his honor, he painted Study for Three Heads, a work in which the artist’s self-portrait is flanked by portraits of his companion, eternalizing the strong bond between the two. Later, Bacon stated that Peter would have been the great love of his life.
Years later, on the eve of his exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris, George Dyer, Bacon’s then partner, suffered an overdose of medication and drink and died in the hotel room where the two were staying. The artist also portrayed Dyer in many of his paintings, dedicating them to his love. This was one of the ways Bacon dealt with grief.
The last phase of Bacon’s production, at the end of 1980, was marked by the representation of bodies in pieces, characterized by strong muscles. He distorted the pieces of flesh and gave new contours to his carnal matter. He promoted a break with the standards established at the time and challenged the paradigms of the Western art world.
On view until July 27th, the exhibition at MASP is a unique opportunity to discover the depth of Francis Bacon, his paintings and concerns.
Service
Exhibition: Francis Bacon: The Beauty of Meat
MASP – São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand Art Museum
Curatorship: Adriano Pedrosa and Laura Cosendey
Curatorial assistant: Isabela Ferreira Loures
Visitation: March 27th to July 27th