Francis Bacon – Head with Raised Arm
Francis Bacon’s Head with Raised Arm will be a highlight of Christie’s Post War and Contemporary Art evening auction on October 6 during Frieze week. The 1955 painting estimated at £7,000,000 – £10,000,000 will be unveiled for the first time in over half a century. Last exhibited in 1962 at the Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, Turin, the work was acquired by the present owners the following year, and has remained hidden from public view ever since.
The location of this papal portrait was listed as ‘unknown’ in the most recent version of the catalogue raisonné published last year by Martin Harrison. Riddled with quiet introspection and human tension, it belongs to a group of nine surviving paintings depicting the then-incumbent, Pope Pius XII. With four held in museum collections, and a further on permanent loan, Bacon’s portraits of the living Pope are among his most profound.
It will be on view from September 8 at, Christie’s Rockefeller Center, New York; from September 18 at Christie’s Hong Kong and in London from September 30.