Private visit. Marlborough Gallery: Bacon & Freud, with IE Arts & Humanities Division

IE Arts & Humanities Division brings us a unique opportunity to discover this exhibition at Marlborough Gallery in Madrid. An exhibition that brings together 20 prints by the artists, Lucien Freud and Francis Bacon, including the Second Version of Triptych 1944 by Bacon.

The Irishman’s works date from 1971 to the final works before his death in 1992, whereas several etchings by Freud dating from 2004 and 2007 have been selected.  In them, the characteristic emotional tension that fills his pieces can be observed through nudes (Before the Fourth, 2004), disturbing portraits of friends and family (Portrait Head, 2005, New Yorker, 2006, The Painter’s Doctor, 2005 and Donegal Man, 2007) and scenes of solitude (Girl with Fuzzy Hair, 2004).

Born in Dublin (Ireland) in 1909, Francis Bacon was one of the most important artists of the second half of the 20th century.  Throughout his career, he kept his illustration techniques secret and he has been cataloged with 584 paintings and around 600 drawings, which are identified by their pictorial deformation and figurative style.

Influenced by Goya, Miguel Ángel, Van Gogh, or Velázquez, stylistically Bacon turned to surrealism and expressionism, although his legacy has been defined within the so-called New Figuration or Neofigurative art. Furthermore, his mysterious personality led Lucian Freud to portray it and his compositions served as inspiration for films, such as Last Tango in Paris or Jacob’s Ladder. Bacon died of a heart attack in Madrid in 1992.

Lucian Freud was a British painter and printer born in Berlin (Germany) in 1922, who is considered to be one of the most important figurative artists in contemporary art. In his early days, he specialized in surrealism but later focused on English figurative painting.  He and Bacon were great friends from 1959 until Bacon’s death.  In 1993, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Merit of the United Kingdom.

The topics he developed most were those related to people and their lives, specializing in portraits of friends, family, colleagues, lovers, and children.  He died in London (United Kingdom) in 2011.