“My role in society—or any artist or poet’s role—is to express what we feel,” John Lennon once said. Through the art of Francis Bacon, curator Didier Ottinger explores parallels between painting and literature. Part of the Centre Pompidou’s examination of key 20th century works (past subjects in the series: Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse), this exhibition looks at Bacon’s relationship with texts, and the way images and atmosphere inspired paintings that includes his famous 1971 self-portrait and several of his classic triptychs. —J.V.

Travels to the Fine Arts Museum, Houston, in Spring 2020.