He DESTROYED His Million Dollar Paintings | Francis Bacon

What do you do when you don’t want your work to be salvaged? After finding people rummaging through his trash in search of his discarded paintings, figurative artist Francis Bacon started slashing his paintings so that they may be irrecoverable. Hundreds of his paintings were found cut and destroyed. What leads an artist to use violence against his own art? How does an artist decide which painting is worthy of keeping and which is not? His 1962 painting Gorilla With Microphones was one of these paintings to be violently discarded. To continue our conversation on what art is or whether AI art is real art or not, today we explore what makes art worthy of being kept, and what type of art is to be violently cut up and thrown away.

As always you can join in on the conversation later today when I am Live on YouTube at 4pm EST or 1pm PST, or you can leave a comment down below.

Instagram:

#art #videoessay #FrancisBacon #ScreamingPope

[jdfromparis]

As someone who wrote a whole Masters thesis about Bacon and as the proud owner of around 120 books about him, I'm happy to report that your video is a gem. Not only everything is factually correct, but your analysis is also very interesting and spot on. Not to mention that the production value of your content is outstanding. Thank you for your work.

[MattMurphyMusicTeacher]

Meta moment - Not recommending one's own video, during a video about artists hating their own art

[perseussaint-perseus]

I rewatch the documentary "A Brush with Violence" every now and then, almost once a year. I'm not a huge fan of Bacon's work nor his persona, but I have a strange fascination with him because of his (self-)destructive (work), in the sense that he's almost a deeply tragic figure, like the main characters of the ancient greek tragedies, drawing our sympathy because of the pain he went through but at the same time we're unable to sympathize because of his hybris. he was self-destructive, he destroyed his lovers; he made violent art, he made violent love and perpetuated the deep pains. And people love(d) him for it and love(d) to watch it. Its really tragic.

[celestenova]

I think maybe he was seeking perfectionism, or rather what he thought it should be. Sometimes a trait for good but perhaps soul destroying in his case. Great thoughtful video as always 🎨.

[cjhunt]

i agree totally that both the destroyed artwork and the act of its destruction are themselves pieces of art

[vatchesolakian]

One finished painting that is pushed to the point of no return can teach the artist more about technique than anything else ..and often leads to their "hallmark visual language"

[portland]

There is something deeply unsettling to me about people scavenging in trash for discarded work so they can sell it

[Ominous]

Once I tore a fully completed stone by stone drawing of the front of Notre Dame de Paris to pieces after realizing it wasn't going to work out with my girlfriend at that time. I've worked weeks to get it right, only to discover I started out with the wrong dimensions half way in ink. The external frustrations of a relationship that is slowly dying, triggered me to tear it to pieces. After that I made one with the right dimensions. It was much better than the one I tore to pieces. That's the story behind my profile picture.

[snager]

one time in community college, we had this courtyard connecting all the art studio buildings. in one there was a metal fireplace. an old lady and some colleges were burning sketches and art works in it and cooking smores. the lady told me she wanted one positive thing to come out of her otherwise wasted semester of art study, so she was burning the art as fuel to make the smores. i participated.

[hellbreakfast]

I highly enjoyed the analysis. My own tendency is to overwork things, trying to make something grander than it is- I have destroyed more than one piece in a fit of pique that it turned out terribly, or gessoed it over to start anew.

My issue with Bacon in this light is that I find his extreme reaction to not be one of a tortured artist, but one of a vainglorious auteur. To me, auteur is a dirty, disgusting word. It has tricked many men into thinking that they can choose to act a fool, often in abusive ways to their loved ones. There is no mystique to being a brilliant artist wallowing in his own pain- your skill is not proportional to your suffering. You do not lose skill when you see a therapist. You don't lose edge, you find more meaning in what you put into your work, instead.

I have sympathy to the man. I can't imagine the nightmare his psyche must have been that people were literally making big bucks off of going through his scrapped work, and he couldn't see that it very literally had great worth to others. Imagine, getting that sort of over the top, insane validation, and instead of realizing "Oh, I bet I could give my discarded work to some homeless folks and save their lives" you go "NO, WHAT ABOUT MY LEGACY, NO ONE MUST SEE MY SHAME!"

That behavior is pathetic, and in a way, yes it did create a different sort of work. A monument, a warning for any sort of creative. You can be a brilliant creator with every success, but if you cannot validate yourself internally, you'll never find satisfaction in a single thing you do. And that is what makes worthless art, not overworking the canvas.

[thegreyartist]

As an artist I love listening to your videos when I paint! It brings such a relaxing mood that I love

[rosesummer]

One of the reasons why an artist destroys his work is that he does not feel in touch with it, or has lost touch with it and cannot find it again. Sometimes, when we've gone too far in the wrong direction, it doesn't make sense to go back and fix something, but it makes sense to start all over again with another canvas. Both in life and in art.
The artist and his work of art are always in a true relationship. Destruction means the end of that relationship. Because if you continue, you will be lying in this relationship and the artist does not want to lie.
The second thing is that when repairing a work of art, the thickness of the layers is formed, which suppresses the colors, clarity, translucency, lightness. A purely technical matter.

[dillonwalshpvd]

Went to art school with a kid from the south who was obsessed with Bacon. He was addicted to cough syrup. Killed himself.

[Mtv-get-off-thee-air]

I read David lunch’s biography and he apparently looks up to Bacon, he’s a huge inspiration on his paintings. You should totally make a video on Lynch’s paintings

[Yatukih_]

I don´t always destroy my art. Instead, I carefully preserve it. There have been times when such artworks have been destroyed but they had to be destroyed out of a necessity. Thanks for your video, Friend! Kind regards from Ásgeir in Iceland.

[RobinMarks]

I've destroyed almost every piece I've ever done. Life is transitory, so it art.

[patrickfosterstudio]

I often destroy failed pieces (slashing)... usually after a failed overworking. It's hard to stop working when you see in your head where it should go, and easy to push it over the edge.
Its is also incredibly difficult to go back into an older piece and rework it- especially if the work is as kinetic as Bacon's. The additions often don't relate, and although parts may be better, it loses cohesiveness. I completely understand his statement. No matter WHAT a viewer may see in a piece, if the painter sees where it SHOULD or could have gone, it can be seen as unsuccessful. It's no surprise he didn't want failed pieces around. I wouldn't either.
Also. I think when he says he destroys the "better" pieces, he is referring to their past state or potential- NOT his opinion of them in the current state when he destroyed them.

[numbersix]

Thanks Canvas Man, this is a fine continuation of your Bacon video. All of your conspectuses have been world-class, as well as being based AF.
The repetition of abhorrent violence for commodification would be the last thing Bacon would ever do. Maybe that's obvious, but it needs to be said.

[thguy]

Educating, enlightening, relaxing. These videos are so good.

[rolandmeyer]

The insight of this video essay incites me to apply its wisdom to all artists who intentionally destroy their creation(s).
I will give three examples from the realm of the "concert hall, " i.e. serious "art music" which the unbaptized masses would call "classical music":
1. Paul Dukas. Best known for "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Destroyed many (but not all) of his works.
2. Samuel Barber. His Symphony No. 2 was withdrawn. He demanded that his publisher destroy his original manuscript, including the sheet music for all orchestral parts. It has been recovered, a long story. Yet a question remains: Is it ethical to listen to it?
3. Jean Sibelius. His Symphony No. 8 was probably created at least twice, possibly thrice. It is presumably destroyed.
All three of these men were hyper-self-critical, a trait they held in common with Mr. Bacon.