Comments on: Bacon and the Old Masters http://lookingaround.blogs.time.com/2009/07/15/bacon-and-the-old-masters/ Reflections on art and architecture by TIME critic Richard Lacayo. Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:06:59 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: OMNP Midterm Review: Exhibitions | OMNP http://lookingaround.blogs.time.com/2009/07/15/bacon-and-the-old-masters/comment-page-1/#comment-514 OMNP Midterm Review: Exhibitions | OMNP Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:24:50 +0000 http://lookingaround.blogs.time.com/?p=3150#comment-514 [...] Francis Bacon and the Old Masters at the Met [Richard Lacayo, TIME] Salon selections meet the white cube at "Ideal (Dis)placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer Museum of Art [...] [...] Francis Bacon and the Old Masters at the Met [Richard Lacayo, TIME] Salon selections meet the white cube at "Ideal (Dis)placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer Museum of Art [...]

]]> By: smartpeopleiknow http://lookingaround.blogs.time.com/2009/07/15/bacon-and-the-old-masters/comment-page-1/#comment-513 smartpeopleiknow Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:36:11 +0000 http://lookingaround.blogs.time.com/?p=3150#comment-513 "It had never occurred to me before how much of the fascination of his work rests on the tension between Bacon the existential desperado and Bacon the voluptuary" That is true in his life as well as his work, for his drinking and partying was as much an act of celebration as it was destruction. While I agree with you that Bacon's influences go back a long way, his use of photography as a departure point provides a twist to that. As well, his background as an interior designer would also come into play. What makes Bacon great is the many facets of the man that made him the painter he was. While I am a big fan of John Berger, his essay comparing Bacon to Disney was terribly short sighted. Anyone reading that should read what you have written instead. "It had never occurred to me before how much of the fascination of his work rests on the tension between Bacon the existential desperado and Bacon the voluptuary"

That is true in his life as well as his work, for his drinking and partying was as much an act of celebration as it was destruction.

While I agree with you that Bacon's influences go back a long way, his use of photography as a departure point provides a twist to that. As well, his background as an interior designer would also come into play. What makes Bacon great is the many facets of the man that made him the painter he was.

While I am a big fan of John Berger, his essay comparing Bacon to Disney was terribly short sighted. Anyone reading that should read what you have written instead.

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