“A landmark exhibition at Tate Britain celebrates how artists have captured the intense experience of life in paint. All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life showcases around 100 works by some of the most celebrated modern British artists, with Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon at its heart. It reveals how their art captures personal and immediate experiences and events, distilling raw sensations through their use of paint, as Freud said: ‘I want the paint to work as flesh does’. Bringing together major works by Walter Sickert, Stanley Spencer, Michael Andrews, Frank Auerbach, R.B. Kitaj, Leon Kossoff, Paula Rego, Jenny Saville, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and many others, this exhibition makes poignant connections across generations of artists and tells an expanded story of figurative painting in the 20th century and into the 21st century.” ౼ Tate Britain

Cecily Brown, born 1969. Boy with a Cat, 2015. Oil, pastel on linen, 1092 x 1651 mm. Collection of Danny and Lisa Goldberg © Cecily Brown. Photo: Richard Ivey

Euan Uglow, 1932-2000. Georgia, 1973 . Oil paint on canvas, 838 x 1118 mm . British Council Collection © The Estate of Euan Uglow

Francis Bacon, 1909-1992. Portrait, 1962. Oil paint on canvas, 1980 x 1415 mm. Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen. The Lambrecht-Schadeberg Collection/Winners of the Rubens Prize of the City of Siegen © The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS, London.

Leon Kossoff, born 1926. Children’s Swimming Pool, Autumn Afternoon, 1971. Oil paint on board, 1680 x 2140 x 56 mm. Tate © Leon Kossoff

Lucian Freud, 1922-2011. Girl with a White Dog, 1950-1. Oil paint on canvas, 762 x 1016 mm. © Tate

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, born 1977. Coterie Of Questions, 2015. Oil paint on canvas, 2000 x 1300 x 37 mm. Private collection. Courtesy Corvi-Mora, London and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York © Lynette Yiadom-Boakye

Michael Andrews, 1928-1995. Melanie and Me Swimming, 1978-9. Acrylic paint on canvas, 1955 x 1959 x 77 mm. Tate © The estate of Michael Andrews

Paula Rego, born 1935. The Family, 1988. Acrylic paint on canvas backed paper, 2134 x 2134 mm. Marlborough International Fine Art © Paula Rego

R.B. Kitaj. 1932-2007. The Wedding. 1989-93. Oil paint on canvas, 1829 x 1829 mm. Tate © The estate of R. B. Kitaj
All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life is curated at Tate Britain by Elena Crippa, Curator, Modern and Contemporary British Art, and Laura Castagnini, Assistant Curator. The exhibition will tour to the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest later in 2018.
Images courtesy Tate Britain.
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