A Francis Bacon retrospective starting at the New York Metropolitan Museum today is not for the faint-hearted.
The self-taught British painter (1909-1992), who denied the existence of God, portrays the brutality of humanity in subjects from popes to a paralytic child walking on all fours. His images illustrate that without God, humans are subject to the same urges of violence, lust and fear as any other animal.
“His wider appeal is a morbid fascination with the expression of violence in human nature,” said Gary Tinterow, principal curator of Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective, which is the first major New York exhibition in 20 years devoted to the artist and includes works from throughout his career.
Bacon, an existentialist, saw man as an “accident of evolution,” said Tinterow, adding that contemporary artists consistently vote Bacon as one of the great influences of the current era.
Though he drifted aimlessly early in his career, Bacon found his voice as World War II ended and rose to prominence over the next 45 years.
With a predilection for shocking imagery, Bacon’s art was dominated by emotionally charged depictions of the human body.
He painted heads with snarling mouths, images of men as pathetic and alone, and a human figure portrayed as bestial, conjuring up the demons he may have lived with.
Suffering from an abusive father, he later relived that pattern with some of his homosexual lovers.
“His early sexual experiences came by older men who were cruel to him,” Tinterow said. “His familiarity with cruelty is strongly expressed.”
The exhibit also includes archival materials found in Bacon’s studio and only available after the death of a man who hated to paint with anyone present, including the subject. These objects include the pages he tore from books and magazines, photographs and sketches, all of which were source materials for finished paintings on view.
The exhibit, which runs until Aug. 16, was formed in partnership with London’s Tate Britain and Madrid’s Museo del Prado, and previously appeared in both of those venues.
Dec. 9 to Dec. 15 When architect Lee Chung-yao (李重耀) heard that the Xinbeitou Train Station was to be demolished in 1988 for the MRT’s Tamsui line, he immediately reached out to the owner of Taiwan Folk Village (台灣民俗村). Lee had been advising Shih Chin-shan (施金山) on his pet project, a 52-hectare theme park in Changhua County that aimed to showcase traditional Taiwanese architecture, crafts and culture. Shih had wanted to build all the structures from scratch, but Lee convinced him to acquire historic properties and move them to the park grounds. Although the Cultural
Supplements are no cottage industry. Hawked by the likes of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, vitamin gummies have in recent years found popularity among millennials and zoomers, who are more receptive to supplements in the form of “powders, liquids and gummies” than older generations. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop — no stranger to dubious health trends — sells its own line of such supplements. On TikTok, influencers who shill multivitamin gummies — and more recently, vitamin patches resembling cutesy, colorful stickers or fine line tattoos — promise glowing skin, lush locks, energy boosts and better sleep. But if it’s real health benefits you’re after, you’re
The Taipei Times reported last week that housing transactions fell 15.3 percent last month, to under 20,000 units. However, the market boomed for the first eight months of the year, and observers expect it to show growth for the year as a whole. The fall was due to Central Bank intervention. “The negative impact of credit controls grew evident for the third straight month,” said Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) research manager Tseng Ching-ter (曾敬德), according to the report. Central Bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) in October said that the Central Bank implemented selective credit controls in September to cool the housing
Bitcoin topped US$100,000 for the first time this week as a massive rally in the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, largely accelerated by the election of Donald Trump, rolls on. The cryptocurrency officially rose six figures Wednesday night, just hours after the president-elect said he intends to nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to be the next chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bitcoin has soared since Trump won the US presidential election on Nov. 5. The asset climbed from US$69,374 on Election Day, hitting as high as US$103,713 Wednesday, according to CoinDesk. And the latest all-time high arrives just two years after
RSS