ABSTRACT
There were also less harrowing matters to be attended to by the internationally celebrated artist. The retrospective had taken Paris by storm. One by one, the major art critics had paid homage to Bacon's gift for expressing the poignancy of the human condition, and comparisons were even drawn with great masters of the past, notably Rembrandt and Goya. Germany had been one of the countries, like Italy and the United States, to demonstrate an interest in Bacon from early on. Several German museums already owned examples of his work, and the Düsseldorf show was acclaimed by a well-informed public and a serious, respectful press. There was a grand exhibition of Francis Bacon's work on at the Grand Palais at that time, and the light in his pictures became another major key for the stylistic cyphers we were looking for.
