Behind Sacha Jafri's 'magical realism' and Francis Bacon's mastery of macabre

Contemporary artist Sacha Jafri has been credited as the inventor of the genre of 'magical realism' in art. His works, which include cityscapes, explore politics on a global scale, as well as the human experience.

''My magical realism stems from writers like Rohinton Mistry, Gabriel García Márquez, Khaled Hosseini and Paulo Coelho… I want to create magic out of the regular things that you pass by daily, which connect you to your childhood and deep emotions so that the next time you walk past them, you experience the magic.''– Sacha Jafri

The 40-year-old artist has already had quite the career. He takes the crown as the youngest artist to have a 10 year retrospective which toured the major global art institutions at the tender age of 27. A preview of his forthcoming exhibition, entitled Universal Consciousness– at the Saatchi Gallery has recently been shown, launching a four-year world tour spanning 28 countries and 35 cities.

The works on show will comprise of 40 large-scale oil on canvas works painted from 1997-2015 and will include recent high profile commissions by various Royalty and celebrities from around the world.

Notable high-profile commissions include official paintings for the 2012 London Olympics and a royal commission from Prince Charles to paint the twenty-one most influential Islamic figures in the world today.

Jafri boasts high profile fans - collectors of his work include Bill Gates, Barak Obama, Sir Richard Branson, H.R.H. Prince Albert of Monaco, Queen Rania of Jordan, Miuccia Prada as well as countless other actors and celebrities. His work is born in part from what he describes as life changing experiences; Jafri has visited war torn Darfur with George Clooney, spent time with and painted Nelson Mandela and worked with street children and refugees.

Jafri is the only artist to have been featured on the front cover of both The New York Times and The Financial Times and his work ranks as among the most collectible in the global contemporary art market. In 2016, Jafri was awarded World Artist of the Year and has also been recognised by the U.N. for his philanthropic work that has raised over £40 million for children’s charities.

A key work by Jafri offered in Chiswick's 17th October auction is an abstract piece entitled Dreamscape II, which is estimated at £10 000 - £20 000.

Coinciding with the sale of contemporary artist Jafri is a work by Francis Bacon. Both British artists impressed critics at a young age, in 1944, Bacon caused a stir when his work Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion was shown to the public. A colour lithograph of Bacon's Triptych Inspired by Oresteia of Aeschylus, will be hitting the market in Chiswick's sale.

Between 1344 and 1985-86, Bacon painted 28 triptychs, a style which the artist came known for. Bacon once explained that he would begin on the left panel and work across to the right, completing each canvas before the next, later returning to the finished panels to make revisions. Today, 14 of Bacon's 28 triptychs are in public collections.

Both Jafri's Dreamscape II and the colour lithograph of Triptych Inspired by Oresteia of Aeschylus will be in Chiswick Auctions' 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design sale on 17th October. Check out more here.