‘London Calling’ at the Getty and the tension between abstract and figurative painting

Christopher Knight | LA Times | 29th July 2016

Americans seemingly don’t warm easily to Britain’s grand tradition of figurative art. The reviewer argues that after WW2 British art recovered its zip by “probing the tension between figurative and abstract art”. From there, however, the narrative fades. Auerbach is “riveting” and Bacon “elegant”, but Freud is “the most over-rated of our time”. Others are dismissed. Overall, it is a “pretty loose-limbed show”. Fodder for debate.