New Bacon Book to Accompany Met Exhibit

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
May 6th 2009 at 8:04AM

If you can't make it to "Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York this month you can still enjoy the great painter's works courtesy of art book imprint Skira Rizzoli. Francis Bacon, a comprehensive study of the seminal 20th-century painter (and oligarch favorite) "provides a radical reassessment of his major achievements and his enduring importance for the twenty-first century."

Bacon developed a way of portraying the human body that was unique in the history of painting - "usually in isolation, at moments of extreme tension or even pain, his figures distorted as if in a fantastical nightmare," as the authors note. In addition to 250 full-color plates, the book also reveals Bacon's inspirations, including magazine tear sheets, photographs, and imagery from films. The book, which will be published later this month, is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.

Tags: contemporary art, ContemporaryArt, Francis Bacon, FrancisBacon, Metropolitan Museum of Art, MetropolitanMuseumOfArt, museums, New York, NewYork, painting