Crucifixion (1965)

This Piece is quite a bit different from the pop series, he uses oranges, reds and some neutral colors as well. All the figures in the the sets to this piece are very deformed and left open for the viewer to find out what exactly they are. According to artfactory.com all of his work was to show the corruption after the World War II era. I am not sure if he drew from anything that would stand out like the pope series but he very well could have and I just couldn't fine the information. According to Gilles Deleuez of Two Regimes of Madness, ""For most people, Bacon causes a shock. He says himself that his work is making images, and these are shock-images. The meaning of this shock does not refer to something 'sensational' (which is represented), but depends on sensation, on lines and colours. You are confronted with the intense presence of figures, sometimes solitary figures, sometimes with several bodies, suspended in a plane, in an eternity of colours... You can sense power and violence in him along with great charm. As soon as he sits more than an hour, he twists in every direction; he really looks like a Bacon. But his posture is always simple, given a sensation that he might feel." I agree with Deleuze completely you can feel the violence in his paintings and as I stated earlier he was violent towards himself so he would stop painting the Pope series.





cited:
http://web.ard.de/galerie/bilderpool/kultur/2007/20070329_schmerz/schmerz_7.jpg (image)

http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/portraiture/bacon/francis_bacon.htm

http://www.alexalienart.com/alexgallery2.htm

Figure with Meat (1954)

This painting is very much like the paintin of Pope Innocent which was also from 1954. He again uses dark colors but along with darker colors he uses meat hanging in the background which according to artic.edu, "he replaced the noble drapery framing the central figure with two sides of beef, directly quoting Rembrandt van Rijn and Chaim Soutine’s haunting images of raw meat. By linking the pope with these carcasses, Bacon allowed the viewer to interpret the pope alternately as a depraved butcher, or as a victim like the slaughtered animal hanging behind him." I agree that he leaves it up to the viewer to figure out the meaning of the painting itself. It's also post World War II so there very well may be a connection. A more amusing fact about this painting is that it was in a scene in Tim Burton's Batman in 1989. In which Jack Nicholson's character the joker says, "I kinda like this one, Bob. Leave it." Which is rather..perfect for that movie in general. This picture once again shows us that he is pulling from art history to creat another piece of art.




cited:
-http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/4884

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_with_Meat (image)

Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1954)

For this work of art Bacon decided to use a canvas and oil paint to share his artwork with the world.The painting is also 60 inches by 40 inches. He takes Diego Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X and disfigures him into something completely different. He uses darker tones unlike the original artwork and makes the Pope look like a zombie that is terrified or screaming. He also seems to creat lines in this painting as if the ghost or zombie of this Pope is evaborating into thin air. I think this painting definatly fits into the category of artist reusing art that has already been around for years. I don't thing he was trying to insult the catholic religion or religion in general but he did a series on popes just to show them in a different light. According to britannica, "...His mature style emerged completely with the series of works known as “The Screaming Popes” (1949–mid-1950s), in which he converted Diego Velázquez’s famous “Portrait of Pope Innocent X” into a nightmarish icon of hysterical terror." Also according to uncovering.org "Between 1951 and 1965, he painted 45 studies, variations, reactions toward the painting by Velázquez. It is said that when he finally stopped his study, he had to do so by inflicting violence upon himself, forcing himself to stop."












cited:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/569972/Study-after-Velazquezs-Portrait-of-Pope-Innocent-X

http://blog.uncovering.org/en/archives/2008/11/francis_bacon_the_popes.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Study_after_Velazquez%27s_Portrait_of_Pope_Innocent_X.jpg (image)