Yve-Alain Boise on Barnett Newman in ArtForum:
"Throughout his life, Newman destroyed much of what he made: A work had to wholly satisfy him or it was banished, especially after he had completed what he often called his "first" painting, Onement I, 1948. This was how he managed to withstand the harsh treatment he received. He had to be confident in his own greatness; his confidence was his armor. When he finally received a measure of the attention he deserved, he was often urged by supporters to produce more work. He politely responded that he did not care for redundancies. Though Newman's oeuvre looms large, it is quantitatively minute: At last count I tallied 122 paintings, 88 drawings, 41 prints, 6 sculptures, 1 multiple (silk screen on Plexiglas), and 1 architectural model. That's all. In the current context of market-driven overproduction, one can only admire such restraint."
There is a knockout exhibition of Francis Bacon at The Met that must be seen if you are in NYC this summer. The paintings he did of George Dyer (above) are so emotionally satisfying you'll find yourself lingering longer then you ever have in a museum. Even his self portraits (below) are mesmerizing.
Also worth checking out is the movie Love is the Devil with Daniel Craig as George Dyer. Derek Jacobi is uncanny (and campy) as Bacon. It may have been a TV movie made for the BBC (and only available in 4x3 on DVD right now) but it plays like the real deal.
