Art News

New show at Ordovas Gallery in London examines artist Francis Bacon’s debt to Rembrandt

LONDON (REUTERS).- An exhibition at a new London gallery examines what its owner believes is a long overlooked subject — 20th century painter Francis Bacon’s debt to 17th century Dutch artist Rembrandt. It was Rembrandt’s Spanish contemporary Diego Velazquez who is most closely associated with Bacon in the minds of most art lovers, due to the Irish-born painter’s famous series of interpretations of the 1650 portrait of Pope Innocent X. While the relationship between Bacon and Rembrandt is less obvious, gallery owner Pilar Ordovas believes it was nonetheless crucial to the way the modern artist worked. “There have not been any exhibitions, any publications, nothing dedicated to the importance of Rembrandt in Bacon’s work,” she told Reuters at her new