Following two major centenary exhibitions at the Met and the Tate, Francis Bacon is now being treated to a singularly forensic homage in his native Dublin. The artist was already the subject of a rather bizarre homecoming in 1998 when the entire contents of his London studio, down to the very dust on the floor, were shipped permanently to Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. To mark his 100th birthday, a huge selection of objects, including paint materials, unfinished and destroyed works, rarely seen paintings, photographs, magazines, books, notes, and vinyl records are now on display until March 7, 2010.
     In 1998 Bacon’s sole heir, John Edwards, bequeathed the studio. After a quasi-archaeological removal process and some initial cataloguing, it was opened to the public in 2001, becoming a major cultural attraction on the Dublin circuit. However, eight more years of painstaking research have come to show precisely what the studio contents can tell us about Bacon’s processes and preoccupations. This is the international significance of the event. In essence, Francis Bacon: A Terrible Beauty provides new insight into the source materials, techniques, and themes of one of the greatest modern figurative painters, debunking a few of his own myths to boot.
     Over almost twenty rooms and two floors, visitors are able to grasp the magnitude of the archives. For Bacon enthusiasts they are replete with biographical and technical gems.