Flesh and Soul: Bacon/Ghenie

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Christie’s, in partnership with HomeArt, are delighted to announce 【Flesh and Soul: Bacon/Ghenie】, a joint exhibition of over 15 masterpieces by Francis Bacon and Adrian Ghenie, to be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from 21 to 29 May 2022, as a special highlight during the week of Christie’s Spring Preview and Auctions. This will be an event remarkable for its many “firsts” – the first Francis Bacon exhibition in Hong Kong, the first Adrian Ghenie exhibition in Asia, and the world’s first joint exhibition for the two iconic artists. After Hong Kong, the collection will travel to additional locations in Asia.

Hailed as one of the most important painters of the 20th century, Francis Bacon (1909-1992) was a prolific artist who focused on portraiture that articulated violence, tension and turbulence, life’s glorious agony. His works are held in almost every major public collection around the world and are highly coveted by elite collectors, regularly achieving eight figures and more at international auctions. His “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” (1969) sold for US$142 million at Christie’s New York in 2014, setting the record for the world’s most valuable painting at the time.

Like Bacon a generation before, Adrian Ghenie (b. 1977) uses his art to address traumas of humanity, but with a preoccupation with mass sufferings and the forces of good and evil. His techniques of pouring, dripping, and knifing are unorthodox, creating canvases that are rough and jagged, conveying darkness and torment, often with a cinematic feel. Internationally acclaimed, Ghenie’s works are held in the collections of Centre Pompidou, Paris, the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, S.M.A.K., Ghent, the Long Museum, Shanghai, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others.

Cristian Albu, Co-Head of Department, 20th and 21st Century Art, Christie’s Asia Pacific, commented, “This exhibition, the first of its kind, explores the fascinating parallels between two extraordinary painters of the modern era. Featuring masterpieces such as Bacon’s Seated Figure (1960) and Two Studies for a Self-Portrait (1970), and Ghenie’s Collector 3 (2008) and The Sunflowers in 1937 (2014), the exhibition will place their works in dramatic conversation. Living a generation apart, the two artists have much in common beyond the vivid, gestural intensity of their brushwork. Both are inspired by moments of profound darkness and powerful figures, from Popes and Cardinals, lovers and friends, to notorious historical and cultural characters who shaped the very texture of the 20th century landscape in both good and bad ways. They share a distinct interest in the photographic image, and in how these pictures — whether printed, seen in books, or encountered in the digital world — form the texture of lived experience. The language of film, too, animates both artists’ theatrically-staged compositions and the capturing of motion on canvas. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to present masterpieces by these two influential and highly important artists, to audiences in Hong Kong.”

Elaine Holt, Deputy Chairman and International Director, Christie’s Asia Pacific, added, “The bond that binds Bacon and Ghenie together is their ingenuity to seamlessly fuse figurative with abstract, reinterpreting the message of past masters such as Rembrandt and Velázquez with Abstract Expressionism. One can also see in them the turbulent, existential vision of Van Gogh. Together but in their own way, Bacon and Ghenie instilled into the flesh of the classics a new, modern soul.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and international expertise.

Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie's has conducted the greatest and most celebrated auctions through the centuries providing a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful. Christie’s offers around 350 auctions annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s also has a long and successful history conducting Private Sales for clients and online sales are offered year-round across all categories. Christie’s global presence is spread across a network of international salerooms and 61 representatives and offices. Christies.com provides detailed articles and videos on the objects offered for sale alongside the latest advances in digital viewing tools to make Christie’s accessible to all.