Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969) installed at PAM (photo Jeff Jahn)

Francis Bacon's triptych of Lucien Freud is a fantastic act of painting (don't let anyone tell you otherwise), the man could paint and every inch of these works proves it. Go ahead compare them to the Monet up the stairs at PAM. To dig a little further, figurative painting fans and scholars alike should catch Patricia Failing's lecture, Bacon's Bodies: Trapping the Convulsive Figure at the Portland Art Museum tomorrow.

I've always found Bacon's earlier pieces like Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion and the screaming Popes to be a touch derivative or hokey (Bacon himself agreed) but his more mature portraits excel in their tension and poise... and thus, very and quite gravely British. This Bacon triptych is one of the best and I'm curious what Failing has to say, here are some of her thoughts on Geurnica for context for something related to the disquieted flesh in a Bacon.

Patricia Failing Lecture | $5, free to members
20 February, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Portland Art Museum
1219 SW Park