Francis Bacon, Two Studies for Self-Portrait, 1977, oil on canvas UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £14.7 MILLION.
A rare Francis Bacon double self-portrait comes up at Sotheby’s auction of Contemporary Art in London on February 10. Two Studies for Self-Portrait, 1977 is estimated at £13-18 million. Bacon painted only three self-portraits in this format.
In the years that followed the tragic suicide of his lover George Dyer in 1971, Bacon’s work became increasingly concerned with the dark psychological depths of his own psyche. Painted in 1977 this is a profoundly intimate portrait, starkly evoking the artist’s inner turmoil at a moment when he was at the height of critical acclaim during his lifetime.
Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s Deputy Chairman, Europe, said: “Of all the subjects he depicted, it is the self-portraits – painted with an almost obsessive intensity – that bring us closest to the artist. It’s this extraordinary intimacy and power, together with their rarity, that make Bacon’s self-portraits so irresistible to collectors.”
UPDATE: Two Studies for a self–portrait by Francis Bacon made £14.7 million. The last time it was at auction was in London in 1993 when it sold for £353,500.