Museum Cinema / Bacon Freud, Face à Face, 2023
The finest films on art and culture will be screened, after a short lecture by the Museum’s curators.
Admission to the Museum’s exhibitions is included in the film ticket, during the Museum’s opening hours.
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Bacon Freud, Face à Face, 2023 | Dir. Catherine Aventurier | France, 2023 | French, English, Hebrew subtitles | 53 minutes
Introduction: Shahar Molcho, Curator of Contemporary Art
Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud were close friends—almost inseparable in the early 1950s. They met daily in Soho, London, at two regular clubs and a favorite pub. Their friendship lasted for years but ended abruptly—reportedly after Freud once asked Bacon what he thought of one of his paintings. “I’d pour a bucket of paint over it,” Bacon replied. From that day on, the two never spoke again.
From the outset, their bond seemed unusual: Bacon, born in Ireland, was extroverted, a compulsive gambler, and an openly gay man. Freud, on the other hand—Jewish and the grandson of Sigmund Freud—appeared to be the embodiment of the British establishment: always elegantly dressed, a family man, and obsessively private.
Their art, too, reflected their contrasting natures: Bacon’s paintings and portraits were marked by extreme, often unsettling expressionism, while Freud created realistic portraits—frequently nude, male or female.
The film brings their powerful artworks to the screen, weaving together archival footage, interviews, and the compelling story of friendship and falling-out between two of Britain’s most important and celebrated painters. It is a film about companionship, art, and the complex lives of its creators.