Terror and Beauty

Dear Sister, 

I thought of you this weekend [while with my ‘other’ sister] as I was walking through the Art Gallery of Ontario. An exhibit featuring the many sculpted works of Henry Moore and the mad paintings of Francis Bacon, two giants of British Modernism. Both reacting to the trauma and horrors of World War II, having experienced the Nazi bomb raid of London. 

Francis Bacon in particular is an artist I think you should seek out. Might I recommend finding an art-book the next time you’re at your local book-store. 

Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, 1988

Bacon was fascinated with the mouth. Some of the placards at the museum made reference to the fact that this might be because of his troubles with asthma, and his time during the war. He was very much concerned with the primal man, the beast that rests within all of us and the horrors that we are capable of. 

Where Francis Bacon wanted to dig deep beneath the surface, picking at the skin and exploring the guts underneath. Henry Moore was more concerned with the body as a place of resistance. 

Reclining Figure, 1951

My 'other’ sister tended to gravitate towards Moore while I found myself circling back to Bacon. Both artists were fascinating and I need to remind myself to visit the museum more often. It was three hours well spent. 

Thinking of you and art. 

V.V.