thursday morning...

I woke this morning, and my first thought was of this series of work.

Something wrong here? I'll say... well, no...

I was having a hard time sketching last night, this may be the inspiration I was needing.

Francis Bacon | Figure with Meat | 1954

Francis Bacon was born in Dublin on October 28, 1909.

He moved to Paris in 1928, where he first decided to become a painter

after viewing an exhibition of Picasso's work.

"Picasso is the reason why I paint. He is the father figure, who gave me the wish to

paint... Picasso was the first person to produce figurative paintings which overturned

the rules of appearance; he suggested appearance without using the usual codes, without

respecting the representational truth of form, but using a breath of irrationality instead,

to make representation stronger and more direct; so that form could pass directly from

the eye to the stomach without going through the brain." -- F.B

This idea of producing variations on a work from the past was also, probably

inspired by Picasso. As he had reinterpreted works by Grunewald, Delacroix, Manet, Gauguin

and Velazquez himself...

Diego Velazquez | Pope Innocent X | 1650

And Velazquez's Portrait was a highly skillful one.

"It conveys the dignity and authority of the Pope, the most powerful figure in the world

at that time, while subtly revealing the suspicions and doubts of the inner man."

Bacon became obsessed by this image, and between the years of 1951 and 1965 he painted

just about forty five variations of the subject

Francis Bacon | Study after Velazquez I | 1950

Francis Bacon | Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X | 1953

Francis Bacon | Study for Portrait VIII | 1953

Francis Bacon | Study for the Head of a Screaming Pope | 1952

I remember reading something he had written, something like,

I wish to paint the mouth, as Monet painted landscapes.

"We are born with a scream; we come into life with a scream, and maybe love

is a mosquito net between the fear of living and the fear of death."

-- Francis Bacon