The nytimes.com has a fine slide show highlighting some of the Francis Bacon show at the Tate Britain.
I can understand how people can get put off by the misery and horror portrayed in Bacon’s work. However, infusing all that is something that I love about him and it is worth hanging in there and looking for. It’s the same thing I love about Mark Rothko, and that’s the ability of the artist to use colour. While it helps to be able to see more of the artist’s work, just flipping through this slide show gives you a glimpse into the vividness of his palette and the remarkable colour composition of his work.
In many of Bacon’s paintings, a single incandescent light bulb appears. It is a light that he captures very well in his paintings. There is both the flatness and brightness of incandescent light that would otherwise be boring were it not in these paintings.
You can see the slideshow here and as always (it seems) there is an accompanying article.
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