A painting by Francis Bacon [1] of his friend Lucian Freud has set a new world record price for an art auction, after selling for $142.4 million (£89.3 million).
Three Studies of Lucian Freud, which was painted in 1969, sold on Tuesday at a Christie’s postwar and contemporary sale in New York. It had been given an estimated price of $85 million (£53.5 million).
After 10 minutes of frantic bidding between seven hopefuls, its price easily exceeded the $120 million paid for Edvard Munch's The Scream at a sale in 2012 [2] , which was previously the highest ever paid for art at auction.
It also broke the previous record price for the work of a British artist, which was set by the sale of Bacon's own 1976 Triptych for $86 million in 2008 to Roman Abramovich, the Russian tycoon.
The 'Three Studies of Lucian Freud', by Francis Bacon (EPA)
Francis Outred, the head of post-war and contemporary art for Christie’s Europe, had described the 1969 piece as a “true masterpiece that marks Bacon and Freud’s relationship”. The pair had been friends and rivals since the mid-1940s. Bacon died at 82 in 1992; Freud died last year aged 88.
The three panels were separated for 15 years after different sales in the 1970s to collectors from Rome, Paris and Japan. However they were later reunited when the collector in Rome bought the other two.
Video courtesy Christie's
References
- ^ painting by Francis Bacon (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ its price easily exceeded the $120 million paid for Edvard Munch's The Scream at a sale in 2012 (www.telegraph.co.uk)
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