The All Too Human exhibition at the Tate Britain is an artful way to ring in Spring.
As we begin to bare our skin for the sun to kiss, what could be more appropriate than going to the Tate Britain and exploring humanity in all of its fleshy glory. Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud are curated alongside their predecessors, contemporaries and some today’s most notable successors.
The exhibition drops us in at the start of the 20th century. I was immediately drawn to Walter Richard Sickert and his “Nuit d’Été” 1906, where Sickert transitions the world from impressionism to modernism. He paints a darkened room with a candle lit voluptuous and nameless woman. We get a glimpse into what is the start of a new aesthetic. Humans, not as idealised beings but as real people.
Through the galleries you will encounter human frailty and sensuality, up close and personal and larger than life. Francis Bacon’s Untitled Tryptic 1974-77 depicting his lover George Dyer in a beach awash with bare frailty. There are mysterious shadowy figures, perhaps they are voyeurs or are they passing judgment? Bacon was not afraid to expose his humanity, bare and naked for all to see. This piece exemplifies his iconic Black tryptic series that centred around the suicide of his lover. The impressive collection of Bacon’s works are a rare sight to behold in one place.
The other headliner Lucian Freud depicts humans as animals and even raw meat, strewn across chairs, beds, on the ground, splayed for all to see. A classic example is the painting, David and Eli 2003-4. Here Freud paints a man and a dog with the same brush, he captures the transient nature of life and mortality. He was a true alchemist tuning oil paint to flesh. His colours; blues, pale greens, ochres and browns are transformed and turn to life. This painting encapsulates living and dying all in one moment on the canvas.
No figurative exhibition would be complete without a nod to the Young British Artist movement. Before you leave the exhibition, you are assaulted by Jenny Saville’s monumental piece Reverse 2002-3. Saville pushes us to the edge with this piece. A close up and graphic, almost violent, rendering of a young woman’s face. She appears naked and vulnerable although all we see is her face.
It is an honour to be able to experience the art works in the city that inspired the them. This exhibition showcases figurative paintings in both a gritty and tender light. It also shows us the wide range that art can depict to reflect our humanity. The curators have included a fascinating array of historical landscapes, cityscapes and abstractions that also reveal London as character, complex, layered and fascinating. Rain or shine All Too Human is a good day out in London.
Photo credits: Tate photography, Joe Humphrys
Hero image: Euan Uglow – Georgia 1973
Any Questions or Tips to add?