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Portland Art Museum exhibits Bacon’s ‘Three Studies of Lucian Freud’

Francis Bacon - Three Studies of Lucian Freud

Francis Bacon (1909-1992)
Three Studies of Lucian Freud
oil on canvas each (unframed): 78 x 58 in. (198 x 147.5 cm.)
Painted in 1969

Bacon’s ‘Three Studies of Lucian Freud’ in Portland The Portland Art Museum continues the ‘Masterworks / Portland’ series with the presentation of ‘Three Studies of Lucian Freud’ by Francis Bacon, on view December 21, 2013 – March 30, 2014.]]>

December 21, 2013, source: Portland Art Museum

The “Masterworks / Portland” series brings internationally significant works to Portland and provides an opportunity study a single object and artist in depth. Masterpieces featured in the past include Raphael’s “La Velata”, Titian’s “La Bella”, and Thomas Moran’s “Shoshone Falls on the Snake River”.

Among the most significant figurative painters of the 20th century, Francis Bacon (British, 1909-1992) gave form to the emotional and psychological landscape of the modern era. Both acclaimed and reviled during his lifetime, the Dublin-born Bacon touched the raw nerve of the post-war era in his art-historically referenced paintings and existentially wrought portraits.

“Three Studies of Lucian Freud” (1969) is considered to be among his finest portraits for its aesthetic resolution and insightful rendering of fellow artist Lucian Freud, the grandson of Sigmund Freud. The painting is currently the most expensive artwork ever auctioned, after being sold for $142,4 million at Christie’s, November 2013.

Bacon and Freud were close friends and regular companions in post-war London. Their friendship provided an aesthetic sounding board for their exploration of figural expressionism—painting each other on numerous occasions for more than 50 years. Bacon completed more than a dozen different portraits of Freud, and “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” is considered an emotional and painterly summation of their friendship.

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$142,4 million: Record-breaking Bacon at Christie’s record-breaking sale (news, November 2013)

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Portland Art Museum exhibits Bacon's 'Three Studies of Lucian Freud'