The Great Francis Bacon

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Francis Bacon was a British artist who was highly praised by the public and proclaimed the greatest artist of the 20th century. Though some have criticized him for his vague and harsh imagery, a lot more people have praised his work for its meaning, passion, and his abilities to materialize the good and bad on certain issues by using half-abstract figures and triptychs as his preference. In comparing and contrasting an early piece of his art work such as “Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion”, which was compelling and showed an originality that earned him wide creditability, to a late piece called “Study for the Head of George Dyer”, one can see the evolution of Mr. Bacon as an artist and most importantly as a person emotionally.

Before beginning his art career, Francis Bacon constantly moved around Europe but finally settled in London working in household design. Mr. Bacon had never been taught art by a professional artist or at an art school, but he did dabble in creating some art design during his leisure time using various watercolors . Then one day, Mr. Bacon decided to attend an art showcase featuring Pablo Picassco art pieces, this show would motivate him to start pursuing a career as an artist. Although at first his drawings and paintings did not get much approval from the public, he continued to work on his craft until his first superior work in 1944 titled “Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion.” In this piece, the inspiration he recieved from Pablo Picasso’s abstract figures truly materialized onto the canvas. Through this piece Mr. Bacon gained wide notoriety. By using triptych, a common design element, Mr. Bacon gave the painting a unique visual look and style. In looking at th...

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...sing sorrow as the main theme in his art painting. Lastly, all the attributes that Mr. Bacon used in his art work, helped make him stand out in an era heavily based on abstract art, as being one of the few artists to create extraordinary paintings of figures.

Works Cited

Smith, Roberta. Art& Design: If Paintings Had Voices, Francis Bacon’s Would Shriek. The New York Times, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/arts/design/22baco.html

Francis Bacon(1909-1992) Portraits of Anxiety and Alienatio. Arty factory, 2011. http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/portraiture/bacon/francis_bacon.htm

Art of the 20 Century: Francis Bacon. History of Art.

http://www.all-art.org/art_20th_century/bacon1.html

Sotheby’s to offer Francis Bacon’s study for Head of George Dyer, 1967.The Art Appreciation Foundation. http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Head_of_George_Dyer.html

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