iAlbertinaInnere Stadt
Picasso - Bacon: What It Feels Like to Be Human
Major face-off between the 20th century's two great figurative painters, Picasso and Bacon, and their savage reinventions of the human body.
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In Picasso's portrait of Dora Maar the nose points one way and the mouth the other, and the painting comes from the Picasso family's own collection. Bacon never met Picasso, but he said the older painter's late-1920s work hinted at an area left unexplored: the human image, completely distorted. He spent his career there, and this show follows him in.
About 70 mostly large works hang in the Basteihalle, lent from Chicago, Mexico City, London, Paris and Stockholm as well as the Picasso family. The route runs through themes rather than a timeline, and starts with Picasso's late-1920s drawings. Director Ralph Gleis calls it "an open clash". Der Standard found too many masterpieces and thought Bacon alone would have carried it; Monopol judged the Picasso half the weaker. Dora Maar's face is still a fair match for your Führerschein photo.
Admission is €20.90 and under-19s are free. The Albertina is open until 21:00 on Wednesdays and Fridays. One-hour guided tours run, and a smartphone audio guide can be bought.
Editor's pick
Bacon spent his career where Picasso's late-1920s distortions pointed; about 70 works hang side by side. Der Standard thought Bacon alone would have carried it, Monopol found the Picasso half weaker. Screams and crucifixions: not a gentle afternoon.
Look for
Dora Maar
Picasso's portrait with the nose pointing one way and the mouth the other, lent by the Picasso family.
Figure Study (Fury), 1944
Bacon's screaming woman squeezed into a single dense image, which Monopol calls disturbing.
Seated Figure, 1955
Bacon's figure laughing, but Monopol reads it as contempt rather than joy.
Figures at the Foot of a Crucifixion
Bacon's twisted figures set against bright orange backgrounds.
Picasso's lamb heads
Three severed lamb heads, which Online Merker calls gruesome.
Good for
- Evening Visits
- First-Timers
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You want a calm look at art: crucifixions, screams and nudes are the show's subjects.
With kids
Under-19s enter free. The Albertina lists crucifixions, screams and nudes among the show's subjects.
Also at Albertina
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
8
- Picasso - Bacon: What It Feels Like to Be Human© Succession Picasso / Bildrecht, Vienna 2026, © Foto: bpk/Nationalgalerie, SMB, Museum Berggruen/ Jens Ziehe
- Elisabeth von SamsonowHeidi Horten Collection / Elisabeth von Samsonow
- TO SHOE OR NOT TO SHOE. Warhol and othersHeidi Horten Collection
- The Global Power of Love. A Journey Through the CenturiesÖsterreichische Nationalbibliothek
- AlbertinaC.Stadler/Bwag, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Theatermuseum (Palais Lobkowitz)Gryffindor / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5
- State Hall of the Austrian National Library (Prunksaal)Mirej / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT
- Jewish Museum Vienna (Jüdisches Museum Wien)Sonja Bachmayer / Jewish Museum Vienna, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0