Francis Bacon – Portrait of George Dyer Talking. UPDATE: THIS MADE £42,194,500
THE most significant large scale Bacon portrait of George Dyer at auction in more than a decade comes up at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art evening sale on February 13. Portrait of George Dyer Talking is expected to make around £30 million. It was made in 1966. Dyer was Bacon’s love, muse and arguably his greatest influence. This portrait has been widely celebrated since it was first shown in Paris in 1966. It was also exhibited at the artist’s legendary first museum retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris in 1971.
Francis Outred, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie’s Europe said: “Francis Bacon’s position at the forefront of 20th century painting was highlighted at Christie’s in November when his triptych of Lucian Freud sold for $142 million and became the most valuable work of art sold at auction. For the triptych we had 6 collectors who bid at over $100 million, showing both the global demand which we see in today’s art market as well as the huge appeal of the artist. It is exciting to be able to follow this success by offering this tour-de-force portrait of George Dyer which presents a powerful portrait of arguably one of Bacon’s greatest loves, painted in 1966, and one of the last full-size portraits of him to remain in private hands. In addition it was shown at Bacon’s Retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris adding emotional poignancy and importance. Alongside the renowned Black triptychs which mourn his tragic loss just before that retrospective, the small amount of works from this period represent the finest images of George Dyer. We look forward to exhibiting the painting in the coming weeks in New York and London and to the auction in February, which will present a fantastic opportunity at a time when we congregate collectors from all around the world.”