30th October 2013
Surrounded on all sides by representations of the human body, I was stunned by my first visit to the Ashmolean Museum. After a brief drink reception in the Mica and Ahmet Ertegun Gallery, Dr Colin Harrison gave us a private, after-hours tour of the Ashmolean’s current visiting exhibition, featuring the works of two British modernists, Francis Bacon and Henry Moore. The very idea of bringing these two opposing artists together encourages a productive discussion of their respective contributions to the notion of the human in 20th century art. Bacon, an anti-establishment, ahistorical painter is juxtaposed alongside Moore’s innovative creation in sculpture and drawing (which is nonetheless produced from within the academy). The curation of the exhibit harnesses the perceived difference of these two artists to reveal a striking commonality—their divergent, yet persistent insistence on the human form. I was personally mesmerized by the cruel colors and writhing, serpentine figures of Bacon’s “Second Version of Triptych 1944” (1988) and his imposition of geometric forms (such as the outline of a box) on the two dimensional surface of the canvas; Moore’s sketches taken from the shelters in the London Underground during the Blitz struck me with their bleakness. Our visit and experience of these artworks were greatly enhanced by a lively discussion between Dr Colin Harrison and Dr Francis Warner, Emeritus Professor of English at St. Peter’s College, who personally knew both artists. Dr Warner fielded questions from the assembled crowd of board members, Ertegun scholars, and university supporters before we retired to the Ashmolean Restaurant for a light buffet supper. It was a magical evening, filled with stimulating discussion, breathtaking (and distressing) works of art, and exquisite food. – Jacob Meister
Ertegun House 