Gennaio 2017 – Visit Madrid!
Francis Bacon (Dublin, 1909 – Madrid, 1992) is one of the leading painters of neo-figurative art in post-war Europe. But he was also a gifted draughtsman, even when he denied this aspect of his work in more than one interview. This exhibition shows a selection of Bacon’s drawings, pastels and collages.
The works unearthed after the artist’s death reveal his talent at drawing. Some of these will be on display, mostly the drawings in the Cristiano Lovatelli Ravarino collection, which Lovatelli got from Bacon himself between 1977 and 1992.
The works in the exhibition have been grouped into four sections: Popes, Portraits, Crucifixions and Seated Figures. Produced in the final years of Bacon’s career, they reveal technical mastery and quality. They’re quick and agile while impossibly accurate – a token of Bacon’s methods and recurring themes. Also, they show the influence of his earlier paintings in the restless lines, distorted figures, simple compositions and atmosphere.