Early Influences: Francis Bacon

Head 1
1948, Oil on hardboard

Way back in the mid-nineties, when I was in high school, I was working on some sketches in my art class. The sketches were of a weird little creature being clutched by a fist, while in the background there were other little creatures hanging on hooks. Did I mention that I was a strange kid? Anyway my teacher, Mr. Bates, took a look at what I was working on and told me that I needed to get a book on the artist Francis Bacon.

Right after school I went to the bookstore and found a book about Bacon. It was a good overview, had lots of color plates and I just fell in love with the guy. His artwork was dark, disturbed and amazingly executed. The subject matter, crucifixions, popes, contorted figures, bizarre rooms, grotesque portraits, fascinated me. Even though I’ve always been a happy guy, this type of imagery has appealed to me ever since.

Self-Portrait
1971; Oil on canvas, 14 x 12 inches
Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris

Throughout the years I had a few chances to see his artwork in person, but it was only ever one or two paintings. That was until last Spring when the Metropolitan Museum of Art held an enormous retrospective.

From their press release:

The first major exhibition in New York in twenty years devoted to one of the most important painters of the twentieth-century, Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective features 130 works (65 paintings and 65 archival items) that span the entirety of the artist’s full and celebrated career.

Study After Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X
1953; Oil on canvas, 60 1/4 x 46 1/2 inches
Des Moines Art Center, Iowa

K. and I spent hours in that exhibition. It was the first time I had seen so much of his artwork outside of books. I loved getting up close to the surface of the paintings to see the texture, the thick layers, smudges and fingerprints. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

If I can be half the painter he was, I’ll be a happier guy.
(Incidentally, the creepy drawing I did back in high school turned out pretty well)