Francis Bacon: Post War Success (Part 2)
5/11/202655 min
Which portrait by the 17th century Spanish master Velázquez inspired one of Bacon's most celebrated works? And why is his painting Two Figures considered a groundbreaking image? Join Alastair and James as they chart Bacon's life and work in the decades after the Second World War. Artworks in this episode include: Francis Bacon, Head VI, 1949, Arts Council Collection, London Francis Bacon, Painting 1946, 1946, Museum of Modern Art, New York Francis Bacon, Portrait of Lucian Freud, 1951, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Lucian Freud, Portrait of Francis Bacon, 1952 Francis Bacon, Head I, 1949, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Francis Bacon, Head II, 1949, Ulster Museum, Belfast Francis Bacon, Head III, 1949, Private Collection Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas, 1656, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid Diego Velázquez, Portrait of Innocent X, 1650, Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome Francis Bacon, Man in Blue I, 1954, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam Francis Bacon, Two Figures, 1953, Private Collection For more great art content visit www.heni.com or visit the Heni Talks YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@HENITalks Hosts: Alastair Sooke and Dr James Fox Additional Research: Catherine Ingram Producer and Editor: Ben Harding Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: Head VI 00:02:43 Painting 1946: Consolidating Success 00:09:13 Meaning in Bacon's Art 00:11:47 Graham Sutherland and Erica Brausen 00:13:44 Monte Carlo: Gambling and Drift 00:19:04 Lucian Freud: An Intense Friendship 00:26:00 The 1949 Hanover Gallery Show 00:30:59 Velázquez's Pope Innocent X 00:35:25 Head VI 00:42:02 Peter Lacy: The Love of His Life 00:51:54 The Tate Retrospective and Tragedy
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Showing 10 of 12Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAlastair Sooke· Host0:00
[gentle music] Welcome to Stories of Art. I'm Alastair Sook.
James Fox· Host0:04
And I'm James Fox.
Alastair Sooke· Host0:05
A white-faced ghoul dressed in a cape of sensuous, smeary purple, like a smashed grape, and sitting on an insubstantial golden throne, is screaming at the top of his lungs. Except we can't hear him because, a bit like, I don't know, a d- a distressed genie stuffed back in his lamp, he's trapped in a transparent but claustrophobic box, which is muffling his agonized cries. You have these long vertical black stripes in the background, which seem to flicker like dark flames and appear to consume him. His cranium's already disappeared as if he's vaporizing before our eyes. And, and what's that, that thing that's dangling from the top of the box, tormenting him even further? It's a tassel which threatens to tickle the tip of his nose. Nose tickling for eternity. There are probably worse punishments, James, in store for sinners in hell, but the painting that I've just described, which is called Head VI and was painted by Francis Bacon in nineteen forty-nine, is still, is still pretty terrifying vision, right?
James Fox· Host1:10
Yeah, it's terrifying, and it's an image that's really complex, really elusive, full of really interesting references. Um, and we are going to be digging deeper into it later in this episode.
Alastair Sooke· Host1:20
Mm.
James Fox· Host1:21
Shall we begin, Alastair, by just, uh, reminding listeners to where we got to?
Alastair Sooke· Host1:24
Yeah, we need a recap.
James Fox· Host1:26
This is, of course, the second episode of a three-part series on the life