Brandon R's Blog Post

Love is the Devil.

One of the few fortunate things about growing up in Des Moines was a close proximity to the Des Moines Art Center. It has one of the best permanent collections of its size in the country (Including a very large John Singer Sargent portrait of Edouard and Marie-Loise Pailleron: for Meredith, if you haven’t been there). It was also fortunate that I had parents who were forward thinking enough to take me there regularly.

My earliest art recollection is looking at Francis Bacon’s Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X :

(see above)

I suppose that at six or seven years old, my fascination was a bit like the fascination a child has when he witnesses the scene of an auto accident. Over the subsequent years, I would suspect that I have spent a cumulative period of days looking at this painting. Over time, my curiosity turned from a morbid fascination to curiosity: particularly about its creator. While Francis Bacon is not my favorite artist, this remains my favorite painting. I grew up with it and feel like I know it pretty intimately. Francis Bacon, the person, is one of the most fascinating characters that I can think of in modern history.

Some of the curiosities that one might have about Bacon can be satisfied by watching the movie Love is the Devil: A Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon.
It is not a new movie and I have seen it several times – and again very recently. The movie was made in 1998 by John Maybury who was a protégée of Derek Jaarman (another genius whose influence is apparent in the film). It is based on the biography The Gilded Gutter Life of Francis Bacon by Daniel Farson who was a close friend of Bacon’s. I’ve read the book and would recommend it as well. The film features the period of Bacon’s life in the 1960’s and 70’s when when he was with his partner George Dyer- a prominent figure in many Bacon paintings. Bacon (portrayed brilliantly by Derek Jacobi) was a sexual masochist. George Dyer (played by a younger- for James Bond lovers- Daniel Craig) was an uneducated petty thief. They both had compound addictions. Needless to say, it was a complicated relationship. Bacon was known for his eccentricities and frequent viciousness. One could write a lot on any of those particularly aspects of the film. I find it all very engrossing. The film created quite an upset in the British art establishment when it was made because of its unseemly portrayals not too long after Bacon’s death.

For that reason, Bacon’s estate refused to allow any of Bacon’s art work to be used in the film. This is the cause of what I think to be the most interesting aspect of the film: the depictions of Bacon’s art. There are some impressions created by artists. But mostly, the film maker relied on cinematic devices to shoot the film in such a way as to make the audience feel like they were inside of a Bacon painting. He used distorted mirrors which also figured very heavily in Bacons work. There are a lot of references to the photos of Malcolm Muybridge. He uses some cinemascope techniques that feel like a triptych. The principal color palette is the colors of bone, blood, and flesh.

Here is a link to a preview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULIRq8wFzE4