Bacon Brings Home The Bacon
Francis Bacon’s “Study for a Portrait” became the second most valuable piece to be sold at a post-War and contemporary art sale at Christie’s last night when it was sold to an anonymous telephone bidder for $29 million. The highest selling work in this category is Bacon’s “Triptych” which went for $41 million in February 2008. “Study for a Portrait” was painted in 1953 when, following the death of his former nanny and companion, Jessie Lightfoot, Bacon spent a lot of time in his studio and painted a series of large moody dark works. It is thought to be one of his most inventive and prolific periods. Nobody knows who the subject of the portrait, which measures two metres by 1.4m.
