“Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 20 – August 16, 2009

Francis Bacon (1909–1992) was one of the 20th century’s most innovative, dramatic, and controversial painters: His personal life was at least as romantically chaotic as the best of his pictures, and his work still manages to split opinion right down the middle. That his long shadow continues to fall on much of contemporary art making is demonstrated by this huge, all-encompassing museum retrospective, which also boasts new technical and interpretive insights. With more than 150 works in total, and the organizing and intellectual weight of the Met, the Tate, and the Prado behind it, this 100th birthday tribute is New York’s show of the year. Francis Bacon, "Jet of Water" (1988)

© 2008 The Estate of Francis Bacon, Courtesy ARS, New York/DACS, London