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ART REVIEW

He made despair glamorous, but was Francis Bacon truly great?

A Francis Bacon retrospective at the Met ranges from early works such as ''Study for Portrait I'' (1953), left, to late paintings including ''Figure in Movement'' (1985), right. A Francis Bacon retrospective at the Met ranges from early works such as ''Study for Portrait I'' (1953), left, to late paintings including ''Figure in Movement'' (1985), right. (The Estate of Francis Bacon)
By Sebastian Smee
Globe Staff / May 24, 2009

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NEW YORK - Embarrassed by our former selves, we often recoil from the art we loved as adolescents. Artists we ardently fall for in our teens are frequently - and sometimes savagely - "dropped" later in life as our tastes become more sophisticated (or so we think). (Full article: 1460 words)

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