Bacon Art Record - $15 Million

A Francis Bacon painting fetched $15 million (7.9 million pounds) at Sotheby's contemporary and post-war auction on Tuesday, smashing the record for the Dublin-born artist. The result and the $125 million sales total on the day were seen as signs of strong sales to come during the autumn auctions at both Sotheby's and archrival Christie's. More than $1 billion in sales is anticipated. Only seven of the 83 lots on offer were unsold, while records were set for 15 artists. The $125,132,800 total including commission was well within the pre-sale estimate. The auction's star was unquestionably Bacon's "Version No. 2 of Lying Figure With Hypodermic Syringe," a powerful 1968 work by the provocative artist estimated at $9 million to $12 million which was bought by an anonymous telephone bidder, far eclipsing the old record by some $5 million. The work was one of 27 being sold from the noteworthy Vanthournout collection, all of which found buyers, most for well above their estimates with many breaking artists' records. The collection's $42 million total beat even the high estimate by some $7 million. For the full story - click the title Irish Art