British Art before, during, and after Bacon and Freud
Presented by Derrick Cartwright and Hugh Davies
Wednesday, March 10; 6:30 PM
Individual tickets: $14/19
Join us for a three-part lecture series on British Art that will be jointly presented by Hugh Davies and Derrick Cartwright.
This series looks at a broad swath of British art from the late Victorian era up to the present day. The focus of these talks, however, will be the distinct legacies of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Friends, and later rivals, Bacon and Freud drew selectively on the prior achievements of British painters and sculptors, from Walter Sickert and Wyndham Lewis to Barbara Hepworth and Jacob Epstein. Largely defying the critical expectations of their period, these artists produced shocking representations and lived unconventional lives, sometimes drawing as much attention to themselves for their outrageous behavior as for their work. In this way, they proved to be durable models for the current generation of artists throughout the UK.
The second lecture will explore contrasts between Bacon and Freud at length. Starting with their tumultuous childhoods—Freud, for example, immigrated to England along with his grandfather, Sigmund, as a result of fascism’s rise in continental Europe—these artists’ initial bond gave way to intense competition. The artists sat for one another, but also painted numerous self-portraits. An examination of these images yields some insights into their shared and separate concerns. The rise of the so-called School of London, within which both Freud and Bacon played critical roles, will also be discussed.
The lectures will be livestreamed via Zoom webinar. Ticket holders will receive a link before the first lecture. Following each lecture, ticket holders will have 48-hour access to a recording.