FRANCIS BACON AND THE MASTERS AT THE SAINSBURY CENTRE FOR THE VISUAL ARTS

Francis Bacon and the Masters at The Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts

On 16^th April 2015 I summarised the review by Jonathan Jones of the exhibition Francis Bacon and the Masters at The Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia.  In his review Jones is searing in his criticism of Bacon.  He writes that in comparison with the paintings of the Masters on display, Bacon is shown to be an aesthetic failure and a moral failure.

On 20^th May 2015 I made a quick visit to the exhibition and formed my own view. 

The exhibition is not as black and white as Jones would have it.  Bacon holds his own, in my view, alongside the Masters.

The entry to the exhibition shows a series of large colour photographs of Bacon’s studio, and arranged in a circle under glass are a random selection of paper resources from the studio: books, illustrations, texts and papers from a wide range of sources.  Bacon is presented as a 20^th Century artist working in a time of great social change and uncertainty.  Bacon lived from 1909 to 1992.

The Masters are the Masters whom Bacon admired and whose works were references for him.  The works by Bacon that are on show tell a consistent story of the life of the artist.  I knew little about Bacon before entering the exhibition and although I was not in a position to spend £25 on a catalogue, I am glad to have learned more about Bacon through the exhibition.

There was more than one ‘screaming Pope’ on display: this is the subject that would have come to mind for me about Bacon before visiting the exhibition.  Unfortunately the Velazquez painting that inspired Bacon to paint Popes was not in the show, but a photographic reproduction of it was present, alongside a photograph of Pope Pius XII who reigned from 1939 until 1958.   Bacon – an Irish Protestant – returned to the theme many times: a Pope screaming.

It was thrilling to see works by, among others, Picasso, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Matisse, Titian and Soutine.  

It was also thrilling to see the breadth of Bacon’s work.

The show runs until 26^th July.

I now find that all the texts at the exhibition can be read at www.scva.ac.uk  and I will now read them.