Francis Bacon, 'Study for Portrait II' (1956).
I completely forgot about Francis Bacon.
I like painters who paint churchmen. Botero does too - paints churchmen - although I'm not sure if he likes people who do - paint churchmen. Michelangelo painted churchmen into his fresco of the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel - so I'm sure he got a kick out of that. There are many examples of churchmen in art. I should say church people, because sometimes nuns are painted too. I painted a nun in the style of Botero once - she is a real nun. Her sisters in religion accused me of being mean for painting her like that - even though the sister was actually very fat. They assumed I was being cruel, when in reality I considered the sister my friend and wanted to capture her likeness as perfectly as possible. It seems to me rash judgement happens when people are convinced of their own self-righteousness. It happens to all of us.
This morning I came across a photo of Sophia Loren's home interior and noted a Francis Bacon painting of a bishop, and I suddenly remembered I liked Bacon's work very much.
Whenever I paint churchmen, I am always surprised how much I grow to like them and respect them even more that I did when I first began the painting. Painting - for me at least - is similar to praying - one can no longer dislike the person one is praying for, it is the same in painting. Like I said - at least for me.
My uncle Jim always painted baseball players and soldiers. He's very old now and has Alzheimer's.
The End.
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