Francis Bacon : Présence humaine
Auteur(s) : Collectif
Exhibition at the Fondation Gianadda, Martigny, 14 February - 8 June 2025
A key figure in twentieth-century art, Francis Bacon (1909-1992) broke free from the conventions of figurative portraiture to plunge to the heart of the human condition. He painted like a surgeon of the soul, uncompromisingly exploring the flesh, the spirit and their breaking points. Pitiless towards himself as he fixes his own demons, Bacon transcends simple painting to deliver a cathartic truth about being and its torments. His pictorial violence becomes the language of a quest for meaning, an exploration of the limits of the individual and of appearance. He reveals what we all try to hide: the vulnerability of our inner structures, the inconstancy of our social masks and the ferocious grip of the passions that consume us.
Through some thirty major works and fine photographic portraits of the artist, this exhibition catalogue offers an immersive journey into his convulsive and tormented universe. It takes us on a journey through his favourite subjects: the deconstruction of the portrait, the dialogue with the Old Masters, the self-portrait as introspection, and the portraits of friends and lovers, fragments of his tumultuous existence.
