Sun Sets on the Exhibition 'Francis Bacon' in Japan

September 1st saw the Japan touring exhibition 'Francis Bacon' come to a close. Across its two-legged tour, spanning a total of over twenty-three weeks, an excess of 160000 visitors are known to have attended the exhibition. This was the first Bacon retrospective in Asia for thirty years, opening first at The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo on March 8th up to May 26th, with over 1200 visitors attending the exhibition on it's first public day. 'Francis Bacon' then displayed at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art from June 8th until September 1st. You can see photographs from both legs of the tour via the Estate's Facebook page. The private opening of 'Francis Bacon' at The National Museum of Modern Art' can be seen here, and photographs from the opening of at Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, here.

‘Francis Bacon’ featured over thirty of the late artist’s works including six triptychs. Adopting the theme of the ‘body’, an important subject to Bacon, the exhibition comprised of three chapters that attempted to trace the changes in his expressive style. Visitors saw five Bacon works known to be held in collections in Japan, and works from major collections from around the world – including the Tate, the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Hirshhorn Museum (Washington), the Estate of Francis Bacon, and the Yageo Foundation (Taiwan). ‘Francis Bacon’ was organised by the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo and Nikkei Inc. For more information on the exhibition, please visit the Nikkei Inc exhibition info site.