The Grimaldi Forum in the Bacon's arena
A special night devoted to one of the 20th century's greatest artists, to introduce Monaco's big summer exhibition

To start off, Catherine Alestchenkoff, the Grimaldi Forum's Director of Cultural Events, will introduce the high points of the headline exhibition Francis Bacon, Monaco and French Culture running from 2 July to 4 September 2016. A presentation of some of the 70 works being shown this summer will give those present insight into Francis Bacon's strong links with the Principality of Monaco, where he lived at various times, and the influence of great French masters – Giacometti, Léger, Lurçat, Michaux, Soutine, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso – who inspired him. The exhibition is being curated by none other than art historian Martin Harrison, editor of Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné.

Thanks to the support of The Estate of Francis Bacon, there will follow a screening of Bacon's Arena, the documentary made for the BBC by Adam Low (in English with French subtitles). Drawing on previously unpublished archive material, this 95-minute profile recounts the life and career, from his childhood in Ireland to his status as "world's most expensive artist", of an artist today considered one of the foremost painters of the human figure.

Francis Bacon found fame very quickly and enjoyed success until his death. In his sometimes violent and disturbing works he exalts the flesh and paints self-absorbed worlds, suffocating even, from which no one seems able to escape. Extremely cultivated and tremendously well-read, Bacon strove to express feeling, desire and dread, while remaining fundamentally instinctive.

26 April 2016 at 8pm. Free entry with tickets available from the Grimaldi Forum ticket office; restricted number of places. Bookings accepted on +377 9999 3000 or at ticket@grimaldiforum.com

Photo : Francis Bacon in Monte-Carlo, November 1981 - Copyright : Eddy Batache / MB Art Collection.