All Too Human
Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life
Tate Britain
Millbank, Westminster, SW1P 4RG
28 FEBRUARY - 27 AUGUST
£19.50 / £9.75 with National Art Pass
In the Tate's pamphlet for this exhibition, it states "All Too Human explores how artists in Britain have stretched the possibilities of paint in order to capture life around them". Including works from across a century (early 1900's to early 2000's) the exhibition is incredibly varied, so much so that it might be hard to originally decipher any linearity between the works, apart from the fact that they are all centred around London - where most of the artists studied, lived, and exhibited. The artists, in essence, have set out to explore "what it is that makes us human". In my mind, this concept was projected predominantly into works of portraiture, and therefore I was fairly shocked to see a few landscape works dotted around, including some of the first works in the exhibition.
The first room itself is regrettably forgettable, in fact I don't think I could tell you what works were in there, even after a re-read of the pamphlet. Fear not, for the initial disappointment is quickly saved with the notorious Francis Bacon's work being introduced in the second room. A dark and dismal pit, surrounded by nothing but pure isolation and angst, Bacon's subjects are tormented, misunderstood and haunting. Looking at one of his three best works in this room for 20 seconds gives you the same effect as watching a really disturbing horror movie for 2 hours. Honestly, this guy really knows how to fuck with paint to seriously fuck you up.
The three works I'm talking about here are 'Dog' 1952, 'Study of a Baboon' 1953 and 'Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X' 1953. 'Dog' and 'Baboon' contain images of deranged animals: the pooch having reached a pure cycle of complete insanity by chasing his tale to a point of oblivion, 'Baboon' appears almost unrecognisable as the creature described - the only part of his being in pure focus being that of razor sharp teeth. Both creatures are separated from any company or forms of interaction: the dog being far removed from a motionless and lonely road in the background, whilst the monkey is surrounded by complete darkness. Despite the difference in subjects, these works are largely similar to the study of the Pope - an image which Bacon said both haunted and obsessed him. In his reworking of the famous portrait, Bacon aimed to dismantle the Pope's powerful status and enhance his corrupt character. Once again, the subject is isolated, screaming, and appears distinctly far away from humanity.
After a sneak peak of Bacon, the exhibition goes back to being unfortunately dull. William Coldstream's meticulously measured portraits are bland and uninspiring, whilst Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff's cityscapes of London are a pile up of thick paint, little detail and frankly not a lot. Luckily, another superstar lurks just around the corner, forcing us to once again change our tune.
Lucian Freud has been my favourite painter, and one of my top artists in general since I saw his 2012 exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. I was studying portrait photography at the time, and went along for some inspiration. I. Was. Blown. Away. The textures in his painting, his attention to detail, and his ability to capture the darker sides of his subjects are all up to a standard I have never seen before, so much so that upon entering this room in the Tate I got the very same goosebumps I first felt 6 years ago. The only criticism I have of the exhibition is that it didn't display enough Freud, and could have picked EVEN MORE amazing works of his to display.
Whilst everyone who is anyone will at least have heard of Bacon and Freud, and have some idea of how highly regarded and fantastic they are, there were many artists in the exhibition I had never heard of before. Two which stand to attention are Francis Newton Souza and Paula Rego. Souza's works are fairly comparable to Bacon's in the feelings of anxiety present after the post-war era, as well as the reflection of his own personal anguish within his work. One of Souza's favourite pieces of his own is 'Negro in Mourning', which alike to Bacon's work possesses an obscured identity: these two chaps manage to straddle the boundary between human and inhuman effortlessly, and it seems the more obscure the subject the more raw emotion and affinity we get from the image – weird, init.
Rego's work was positioned towards the end of the exhibition, and explored memories of her own, and the female identity. Rego's work reminds us that art is a historically male-dominated activity, a notion which is only proven further in the fact that she is the first female artist to appear in the exhibition. In her painting, the female is not submissive but active, performing a number of activities and always fully clothed. This is as the idea of woman as more than a mere spectacle or object was finally coming to the forefront of social discussion. The feminine is further displayed in the works succeeding Rego's. My favourite image of the whole exhibition being Jenny Saville's 'Reverse' 2003, due to it's enormous boundaries, excruciating detail and arresting subject matter.
Overall, All Too Human is a vital and epic exhibition in parts, but a totally forgettable and bland one in others. The good works here really do shine, and it is hard for me to fault a show which displays works of my favourite painter. The show opened my eyes to more works of Bacon also, which was a definite positive. However, because it holds gems such as these and the works from Saville, Rego and Souza, the less encapsulating paintings really do show, and unfortunately further emphasise the dullness and apathetic effect they have on the viewer.
OVERALL RATING: ****
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/all-too-human
