A SERIES of paintings by Francis Bacon of his lover George Dyer has sold for £26.7million.
The price sets a new record for a small-scale triptych by the Irish artist, following a hotly contested bidding war at Sotheby’s London auction house on Monday, June 30.
Painted less than a year after Bacon met Dyer, the Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer piece had been held by a private collector for more than 40 years before coming up for auction this week.
Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s Senior International Specialist in Contemporary Art, said of the piece: “Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer marks both the height of Bacon’s affair with Dyer and the zenith of his achievement in portraiture.
Full of the painterliness, chaotic brushstrokes and raw emotion that make Bacon such a giant among artists, we expected it to create great excitement at auction, coming at a moment when the market for works by Bacon is at an all-time high.”
Four bidders went to battle for the artwork on Monday night, with the winner claiming his prize for £26,682,500, well above the £15-£20m estimate put on the work.
The price established a new benchmark for a small-scale triptych by the artist.
Elsewhere in Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Contemporary Art five works by Andy Warhol all found buyers, as did two lots offered by Damien Hirst.
The total figure raised in the evening sale was £93.2million.
