Salazar 1 Brae Salazar Mr.

Hackney English 101: Rhetoric 2 October 2013

All Hail Bacon: King of Anguish A painted canvas is stronger than the barrier between any two languages; for as long as mankind has employed the earth, art has served as a medium for the communication of emotion. It's no struggle to direct accountability towards the displayed artwork within the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for the amount of raw emotion and erected intensity circulating amidst the walls. In Time Magazines Tragic Hero, written by Richard Lacavo, Lacayo compares the art of Francis Bacon to the style used by contemporary artists and uses ethos as a means to effectively stake a claim that Bacon is the most powerful painter of anger and anguish. Lacayo opens the article by establishing his credibility as a common museumgoer and critic, by stating that it was one of the most powerful exhibitions [hed] seen in more than 40 years of museumgoing (154). In other words, Lacayo projects his validity upon his audience and encourages them to construct a link between his name and the legitimacy composed of over four decades of experience. Furthermore, Lacayo weaves his exposure-obtained knowledge of the all around art world into the article, showcasing his acute familiarity with artists and art trends of varying time periods. He achieves this effect by including more obscure names (in the eyes of the average reader) of artists, along with a brief clause that accurately demonstrates an understanding of their personal

Salazar 2 style and accomplishments. For instance, the mentioning of Giacometti and Dubuffet are strategically placed within the article a few paragraphs after the mentioning of Michelangelo in order to extend and intensify the authors previously established knowledge base. By occupying these modes, Lacayo efficiently develops ethos throughout the entirety of the article. Moreover, by extracting Bacons artwork from the context of his time period, and placing it within the framework of modern contemporary art, the anguish and tragedy that is commonly embedded into his canvases greatly contrasts the cool enigmatic norm that characterizes todays art. Towards the front of the article, Lacayo establishes that [w]hat we have almost no language for anymore, at least not in painting, is acute pain (154). He achieves this conclusion by rallying his own observations that todays galleries are most commonly comprised of irony as well as low comedy, puerile cool and enigma (154). Subsequent of placing Bacons exhibition side by side with modern art, which, by evolutionarily popular style serves not as a language of pain, Lacayo is able to make more prominent the tragic dimensions attained by Bacon. Additionally, In order to supplement these magnitudes of tragedy, Lacayo illustrates to the readers mind the backdrop of our current period: a time illuminated with its [fair] share of suffering (154) and the lack of equivalence represented by contemporary art. Bacons Three Studies for a Crucifixion lines the article, greatly deviating from the vision of enigmaticcontemporary artwork, with its most obvious signs of the eternal devils of human nature (155). The readers eyes are drawn to the butchered carcass and locus of human identity (156), while the worded representation of detached modern art lies fresh in the mind. Held majestically by contrast, the anger and anguish within Three Studies for a

Salazar 3 Crucifixion grandly burst to convey their allocated pain: serving as a representation of Bacons work it its entirety. Within his article, Lacayo efficiently utilizes the value of ethos in order to mark his claim with desired authority, as well as to masterfully draw connections between illustrated artwork of different time periods, with the purpose of escalating Francis Bacons painted pain. Combined, these two modes of rhetoric permit Lacayo to productively argue for the case of Bacons long lasting triumph over illustrated anger and anguish.

Salazar 4 Works Cited Lacayo, Richard. "Tragic Hero." Time 11 May 2009: 154-56. Print.