A fascinating exhibition
is currently taking
place in the Dublin
City Gallery on Parnell Square.
It has been running since October
2009 and will continue
until March 2010. I had the
pleasure of visiting the Gallery
this week
and it was a
most pleasant
and enjoyable
experience.

The exhibition
in question
is taking
place to celebrate
the 100th
birthday of
the eccentric
painter Francis
Bacon and
there is an immense
archive
of his work on
display.
Francis Bacon
is one of
the most famous
artists
of the 20th
century.

He became known for
his figurative painting, which
means that he depicted human
beings, animals or objects.
A large number of the paintings
I viewed were personal
portraits of his friends and various
characters he met through
his life.

I was fascinated by what I
saw. There was a video played
where Francis spoke about
his life and art, and what really
impressed me was the actual
replica of the studio where
he lived and worked in South
Kensington, London from 1961
until his death in 1992. Some
7000-plus items retrieved from
the original studio were
archived to the Hugh
Lane Gallery. It really
gives one a thorough
personal insight into
this amazing artist.
His paintings have
been described by critics
over the years as
enigmatic, shocking,
horrific and terrible.
People see the dark side
of human life shown in
his art.

I found a lot of paintings and
pictures that I saw left me with
an eerie feeling. They were
more than strange, to say the
least and it is sometimes hard
to understand the meaning of
what he was trying to portray.
They are definitely not for the
faint hearted among us.

Bacon repeatedly uses themes
such as isolation, violence and
even death. What one learns on
visiting the exhibition is that
his art is very closely linked to
his private life, which was not
an easy one.

For the avid art fans among
you, Bacon looked to artists
such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh,
Velazquez, Picasso, Michaelangelo
and Marcel Duchamp
for inspiration.

Unlike many artists, Francis
Bacon was celebrated in his
own lifetime and his paintings
sold for high prices. There are
actual photos on display which
were taken of his apartment
in London, and I was shocked
at the bleakness of the manʼs
life.

He certainly didnʼt live in
luxurious surroundings. In
fact, I found the photos quite
sad and depressing. He lived
on his own and his kitchen was
also his bathroom!

Since 2001, Francis Baconʼs
studio has been on permanent
display at The Hugh Lane
in this dedicated exhibition
space. Today all the
items are set up in
a digital database in
the Gallery to help
researchers.

You can even use
Touch Screen Terminals
to hear an
audio version of Bacon
ʼs life and view
different aspects of
his work, etc.

When Francis
died in 1992, he left all his belongings
to his best friend John
Edwards– including his studio
in London and its contents. He
was an artist that loved to travel
and spent long periods of his
life in Monte Carlo, Tangier
and Paris, but he mainly lived
in London.

This is a fascinating way to
spend an afternoon and the bonus,
folks, is that it is free– so
go and enjoy.