CUMBRIA.- Abbot Hall's summer exhibition Francis Bacon to Paula Rego celebrates and explores the work of major British painters of the last fifty years. The featured artists reads like a who's who of the art world and draws from Abbot Hall's significant collection of twentieth century painting with artists including Michael Andrews, Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud & David Hockney. - a mixture of portrait and landscape works which both highlights the impressive collection at Abbot Hall and pays tribute to the rich tradition of painting in the United Kingdom.

Inspired by Michael Peppiatt's 1987 exhibition A School of London: Six Figurative Painters. Francis Bacon to Paula Rego explores the original theme of Peppiatt's show whilst also seeking to survey contemporary British painters working in the United Kingdom, examining how they have sought to take painting forward and make it relevant in the twenty first century. This will include artists Tony Bevan, Christopher Le Brun and Paula Rego.

Comprising over thirty eight paintings, Francis Bacon to Paula Rego features two works by Francis Bacon including one of his iconic paintings Head VI, 1949, on loan from the Arts Council Collection, three paintings by Frank Auerbach, one from the galleries own collection JYM in the Studio VII, 1965, and works by Paula Rego including Sleeping, 1986 from the Arts Council Collection as well as important pieces by RB Kitaj, Lucian Freud, Tony Bevan, Leon Kossoff, and the newly appointed head of the Royal Academy, Christopher Le Brun. Looking forward to the next fifty years of British painting Francis Bacon to Paula Rego also features a selection of new works by emerging contemporary artists of growing international importance who include Carol Rhodes, Turner prize nominee (2005) Gillian Carnegie, Simon Carter and Robert Priseman.

Artistic Director Helen Watson said of the show 'Featuring work from the major collections including Tate, National Galleries of Scotland and the Arts Council Collection Francis Bacon to Paula Rego brings together some of the most important artists of last fifty years and exhibits them alongside some of the most challenging and exciting British painters working today.'