Bacon Art May Break Record

A three-canvas painting by the figurative artist Francis Bacon is to be auctioned in London next month, where experts estimate it will break the record for the sale of any British or Irish art work. "Triptych 1974-77", which has been in private hands, goes under the hammer on February 6 at Christie's and is expected to reach more than £25 million. In publicity material, Christie's described it as "the most important work by Francis Bacon to ever appear at auction", adding: "The painting is expected to break the current record for any British artist." Dublin-born Bacon, who died in 1992, created the work on the eve of a major art exhibition of his work in New York in 1974 in response to the suicide of his lover, George Dyer, in a Paris hotel three years earlier. The work shows sequential images of dark, ominous umbrellas and Bacon's lover struggling on a near-deserted beach. Many of Bacon's works after this moment were preoccupied with Dyer and the tragic manner of his death. Bacon currently holds the record price for the auction of a British or Irish art work, with "Study from Innocent X" (1962), which was sold in May 2007 for £26,581,895. (For full source and full article click the Headline). Irish Art