Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud returned to the academic tradition of figure painting—but with wholly different goals.
1945 - 1980
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Richard Hamilton, Just What is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?
While Hamilton's Just What is It… is considered to be among the most foundational works of Pop Art, this small collage was initially not created as a work of art.
Describing what you see: Sculpture, Henry Moore’s Reclining Figure
Describing is a key skill for art historians and for any museum visitor. Learn how.
Lucian Freud, Standing by the Rags
Freud’s nude isn’t the idealized, horizontal beauty of previous centuries, but a forthright, vertical one.
Francis Bacon, Triptych – August 1972
Coping with the death of his lover, Bacon paints figures who decompose and fuse together in front of our eyes.
