Aesthetic Pleasure

In this etching, Bacon's satirical eye is directed at gallery visitors rather than her fellow artists. The image is based on her experiences traveling to museums in Europe, specifically the Pitti Palace in Florence. She catalogued a variety of reactions to the Renaissance masterpieces: the pontificating of an officious guide; tourists squinting in their attempt to understand the works' greatness; and a woman at the far left standing with her back to the art, happier to read about it in her guidebook than to look at it. In the background, Bacon included an art student, dutifully copying one of the paintings.