First Francis Bacon/Adrian Ghenie exhibition to open next month in Hong Kong

Flesh and Soul: Bacon/Ghenie, a joint exhibition of over 15 artworks by Francis Bacon and Romanian Adrian Ghenie, will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from May 21 to 29, News.ro reported quoting Christie’s. It will be organized as a special highlight during the week of Christie’s Spring Preview and Auctions.

According to the auction house, the event will be one of many firsts - the first Francis Bacon exhibition in Hong Kong, the first Adrian Ghenie exhibition in Asia, and the world’s first joint exhibition for the two iconic artists.

After Hong Kong, the collection will travel to additional locations in Asia.

Cristian Albu, co-head of Department 20th and 21st Century Art, Christie’s Asia Pacific, commented: ”This exhibition, the first of its kind, explores the fascinating parallels between two extraordinary painters of the modern era. Featuring masterpieces such as Bacon’s Seated Figure (1960) and Two Studies for a Self-Portrait (1970), and Ghenie’s Collector 3 (2008) and The Sunflowers in 1937 (2014), the exhibition will place their works in dramatic conversation.”

Francis Bacon (1909-1992) was one of the most important painters of the 20th century, his works regularly achieving eight figures and more at international auctions. His “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” (1969) sold for USD 142 million at Christie’s New York in 2014, setting the record for the world’s most valuable painting at the time.

Adrian Ghenie was born in 1977 in the northern Romania city of Baia Mare. Internationally acclaimed, Ghenie’s works are held in the collections of Centre Pompidou, Paris, the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, S.M.A.K., Ghent, the Long Museum, Shanghai, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others.

(Photo source: Dreamstime.com)