If you’re in New York, you’re in luck. If not, I recommend you fly to La Guardia, then jump in a cab and drive to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met). Buy a ticket, leave the ancient Asian and European artifacts for another day. Climb the beautiful marble staircase, and head straight to the Francis Bacon retrospective.

You will not be disappointed, even if you do not like Francis Bacon’s work. Until the exhibit I had only seen a small fraction of Bacon’s output and was, at best, somewhat disturbed by it. Interestingly, The Met bills the exhibit as “a reevaluation of the artist’s work in light of a range of new interpretations and archival materials that have emerged since his death in 1992″. Regardless of whose interpretation you feel most inclined to accept, it’s clear that Bacon was very artistically erudite, drawing upon numerous classical references. Further, his personal experiences, especially becoming a young adult in war torn Britain of the 1940s, had tremendous impact on his vision of humanity (or lack thereof). I suspect also that a number of his significant works reflected his tongue-very-much-in-cheek attitude at the art establishment, British society and the church.

So, enough said. Check out the exhibit if you possibly can. It features over 60 of Bacon’s original works and lots more accompanying material. The exhibit, Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective end on August 16, 2009. So, be quick, you only have a week to go, and The Met is the only U.S. location for this vast exhibit of Bacon’s work.

Image above: Painting by Francis Bacon, 1946, courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.?