Rina Arya, Francis Bacon: Painting in a Godless World

A new critical study published by Lund Humphries

Rina Arya, Francis Bacon: Painting in a Godless World

From Lund Humphries: 'Throughout his career, Francis Bacon (1909-1992) made many anti-religious and, more specifically, anti-Christian statements. Bacon was a militant atheist but his atheism was not a simple dismissal of religion and religious belief. He exploited the symbols of Christianity, especially the Crucifixion and the Pope, in order to show its untenability in the modern age.

Setting out to account for Bacon's recurrent and sustained use of religious symbols, Rina Arya explains how the artist redeployed religious iconography to convey an experience of the human condition, specifically animalism and mortality. By placing the work within the context of post-war philosophical pre-occupations with the death of God, the author provides a robust framework in which to view and interpret Bacon's complex images. [Read More]

Also at A Piece of Monologue:

• Francis Bacon: Five Decades
• Francis Bacon: Free e-book
• Damien Hirst on Francis Bacon
• Melvyn Bragg on Francis Bacon and Harold Pinter
• Milan Kundera and others on Francis Bacon
• Francis Bacon on the South Bank Show