British Art before, during, and after Bacon and Freud
Presented by Derrick Cartwright and Hugh Davies
Wednesday, March 17; 6:30 PM
Individual tickets: $14/19
Join us for a three-part lecture series on British Art that will be jointly presented by Hugh Davies and Derrick Cartwright.
This series looks at a broad swath of British art from the late Victorian era up to the present day. The focus of these talks, however, will be the distinct legacies of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Friends, and later rivals, Bacon and Freud drew selectively on the prior achievements of British painters and sculptors, from Walter Sickert and Wyndham Lewis to Barbara Hepworth and Jacob Epstein. Largely defying the critical expectations of their period, these artists produced shocking representations and lived unconventional lives, sometimes drawing as much attention to themselves for their outrageous behavior as for their work. In this way, they proved to be durable models for the current generation of artists throughout the UK.
The final lecture looks at the trajectory of British art since the deaths of Bacon (in 1992) and Freud (in 2011). In our era, the works of the Young British Artists have occasioned both intense interest and controversy. From Tracey Emin to Grayson Perry, Cornelia Parker to Yinka Shonibare, contemporary art in the UK has asserted its urgency within critical debates. We will try to situate these compelling representations within the broader history of British art as well as an increasingly global vision of the art world.
The lectures will be livestreamed via Zoom webinar. Ticket holders will receive a link before the first lecture. Following each lecture, ticket holders will have 48-hour access to a recording.