Francis Bacon’s paintings never become cozy old friends. The blurs and sideswipes, the beaten flesh in membranous pinks and deathly greys, the surreal disembodiments framed in rusty blood-red, they’re always unsettling. This exhibition, which originated at Centre Pompidou in Paris, focuses on work from 1971 to 1991 (Bacon died in 1992). Approximately 40 canvases have traveled to Houston, including the monumental triptychs. —L.J.