Francis Bacon (28 October 1909 – 28 April 1992) is a grotesque painter in the British Isles since the 1940s. He was born in Dublin, Ireland. Usually use deformed images or morbid characters as themes to portray some disgusting images. But these grotesque images profoundly exposed the disasters of the world and mankind, and he deliberately emphasised the ugly face and the expression of pain and struggle. He also often reprocessed famous paintings such as photos, pictorials, and prints to create portrait works that only reflect his own inner illusion and pain.
In 1952, Bacon painted a series of portraits of the pope based on the portrait of Pope Innocent X by the Spanish painter Velázquez. The cardinal in the painting is hidden behind a translucent curtain. This figure sits in a wide space. Inside, but the image is vague, as if blocked by a curtain, his expression is usually screaming or yawning with his mouth open. These variant paintings all extend the works of Velázquez that he borrowed since 1949, and this theme has been repeated in his later works. Bacon deliberately concealed the series of images of the Pope in the curtain, and its meaning may be to make the viewer feel the state of chaos and fear behind the scenes. However, the painter did "paint" the spiritual outburst of people who were not originally in the visual field by reproduction.
Francis Bacon is one of the most influential artists in the 20th century. His paintings are bold in style, dark in tone, and good at realism. The immediacy and locality of the artwork is its uniqueness in the place where it was born. But only by virtue of this uniqueness can history constitute history, and the existence of artworks is subject to history. During Bacon’s painting career, he carefully observed Velázquez’s portrait of Pope Innocent X. He wrote and interpreted the pope in his mind. The pope in Velázquez’s original painting was full of sadness, behave with decorum. The pope in Bacon's painting is screaming with a horrible face. The uniqueness of a work of art is consistent with the traditional connection it is in. Of course, this tradition itself is absolutely lively, and it has great variability. Velázquez is a realist painter. He usually only paints the objects he sees. The figures in his paintings are lifelike. Bacon used his own ideas to overlay such a realistic work, showing a different style of painting expression. The way the work exists in the traditional connection was first reflected in worship. Bacon used his own painting style to interact with Velázquez’s work, adding a grotesque element to the traditional painting, which would also give the audience some visual impact. portraits of Pope Innocent X. He wrote and interpreted the pope in his mind. The pope in Velázquez’s original painting was full of sadness, behave with decorum. The pope in Bacon's painting is screaming with a horrible face. The uniqueness of a work of art is consistent with the traditional connection it is in. Of course, this tradition itself is absolutely lively, and it has great variability. Velázquez is a realist painter. He usually only paints the objects he sees. The figures in his paintings are lifelike. Bacon used his own ideas to overlay such a realistic work, showing a different style of painting expression. The way the work exists in the traditional connection was first reflected in worship. Bacon used his own painting style to interact with Velázquez’s work, adding grotesque elements to the traditional painting, which would also give the audience some visual impact.
Reference
Benjamin, W. (1936). The Work of Art in the age of mechanical reproduction. In H. Arendt & H. Zohn (Eds.), Illuminations (pp. 211–244). London: Fontana Press.
Arnold, C. (2019). Bacon and Photography. http://www.cedricarnold.com/francis-bacon-and-photography/
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