Extract
[...] It is not a retrospective, as this exhibition focuses on a part of the artist's work and adopts a thematic approach. The press release highlights the fact that this period is marked by a stylistic evolution of Francis Bacon's painting: during these decades, 'the painting is stylistically marked by its simplification, by its intensification. His colors acquire a new depth, he uses an unprecedented chromatic register, saturated yellow, pink, orange. ' In addition to being chronologically centered on a few years of the painter's career, this exhibition has a true stylistic coherence. [...]
[...] By dedicating this monographic exhibition to the last years of Francis Bacon's life, and by proposing a reading centered on the artist's relationship with literature, the Centre Pompidou effectively distinguishes itself from the major retrospectives organized previously in France and abroad. By choosing to reduce the written mediation devices to a minimum to let the works and texts speak for themselves, and to leave visitors free to draw their own conclusions on Bacon's work and his relationship with literature, the museum also adapts to the artist's thought on his work, who refused to propose or accept too great interpretations of his work. [...]
[...] Firstly, it is necessary to focus on the monographic aspect that is at the heart of this temporary exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, questioning the content that the curator has chosen to show about the work of Francis Bacon. The exhibition Bacon in full letters must also be analyzed with regard to the first monographic exhibition dedicated to Bacon by the Centre Pompidou, in 1996. This exhibition consisted of 86 works covering the period 1945-1990, and distributed in the museum's space according to a chronological hanging. [...]
[...] This bias may also imply that Francis Bacon is an artist well known to the general public, or that visitors should research beforehand or through the exhibition catalog to obtain more details. On the other hand, the Centre Pompidou has set up a whole series of events around the exhibition, which are also significant in terms of the light that the museum intends to shed on Francis Bacon's work. Thus, there is a conference entitled 'Bacon: a French passion' which will analyze Bacon's influence on French authors such as Hervé Guibert, Claude Simon, Gilles Deleuze, Didier Anzieu or Philippe Sollers. [...]
[...] They are also present in the form of the entire set of visitor aids, whether during or after the visit: flyers, room and panel signs in the exhibition, audio guides, possible guided tours, and finally the exhibition catalog. For this exhibition, the presentation of the works is relatively minimalist: light-colored display cases and uniform lighting. The scenographers did not, for example, try to dramatize the presentation of the works by using dark pieces in which the works would be lit like spotlights. [...]
