Research of given artist

Task:
I was given an assignment last week the 1st of October to create a mindmap based on an artist given by my lecturer. We had to use the library as our main research method and we werent allowed to use the internet.

The artist I was given was Francis Bacon. I had already known a bit about Francis Bacon's and his work but it was interesting to research him in much greater detail.

The books that I found to be of use were:

1. Francis Bacon written by Laurence Gowing and Sam Hunter. 
2. Francis Bacon written by John Russell.
3. Francis Bacon in conversation with Michael Archimbaud. Phaidon is written on the cover. 

Francis Bacons Background:

Francis Bacon was born in 28th of October 1909 in Dublin. He was one of five kids, he moved alot back and forth from Dublin and England as his father worked in a war office. He never attended schooling and as a child he experienced alot of human strangeness through his family. This could be what his paintings are related to.

Mindmap:

I decided to put my focus on one work belonging to Francis Bacon. The name of this piece of artwork was THREE STUDIES FOR FIGURES AT THE BASE OF THE CRUCIFIXION. 

This is the image of his work, The three studies for figures at the base of the crucifixion which i done myself for my mindmap.

The reason I chose to do the mind-map in a window type form is because Francis Bacon didn't always have these paintings part of a series and were hung by themselves. Each window slot can be open one at a time so the viewer can experience the paintings on there own. I also have a larger window which can be open up so the viewer can also view the work as a collection. 

Left Picture

This picture depicts a human form a mourner at the cross. The creature has thick hair like a female and also a jailbird. At the shoulder level there is what looks to be wing stumps. The creature has a very elongated neck but has no mouth. The creature is sitting on a metal stool looking limbless having no legs attached to its body. 

Centre Picture

This image the creature almost looks like a dis featured and a distorted ostrich. Around the elongated neck of this creature there is a bandage. The mouth is wide opened with sharp teeth which makes the viewer feel like it is snarling at them. The creature is looking directly at the viewer even though it has no eyes.

Right Figure

The right figure is very similar to the central  figure. this creature also has an elongated neck but accept the bandage is removed compare to the centre image. What looks like a leg is coming down from  the body into a furry like material which is said to be a sofa leg. 

Three images as a collection:

The works were first exhibited in 1945 in Lefevre Gallery. The room they were situated in was very low ceilinged, windowless and oddly proportioned. The paintings were regarded as freaks and as monsters and they really unsettled viewers. People were requesting them to be taken down and removed from the gallery because they caused such large controversy.These three images were painted by using oil paints and also pastels on fibre board. The creatures are painted on a flat orange background with pallid flesh tones, this was achieved by the overlaying of grey and white brushstrokes. The figures are done in the colours yellow,green,white and purple. All paintings backgrounds look very similar with the orange but in fact the right image is slightly brighter than the other two on its left.

My opinion of Francis Bacons work: 

In my opinion I did not like Francis Bacons work. The techniques he used interested me more than the pictures themselves.I just found the images too daunting and unflattering to look at. I really likes the way he combined two mediums between the oil paint and pastels and would perhaps experiment with these in my own artwork. All the colours in the picture do in a way complement eachother and so this interested me and has given me ideas, so even though I didn't overall like his pieces or the creatures he depicted I did learn things from his work which are beneficial.