Francis Bacon Value: Top Prices Paid at Auction

After Second Version Of The Triptych 1944 (right panel) by Francis BaconAfter Second Version Of The Triptych 1944 (right panel) © Francis Bacon 1988
Jasper Tordoff

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The value of Francis Bacon’s art over the last few decades has soared, from his studies of fellow artist Lucian Freud through to his infamous large-scale triptychs. The average price of a Francis Bacon's print is now £11,372.

Though Francis Bacon's prints may not be the most cheerful of artworks, those that remain in private collections are particularly successful, achieving record prices at auction. for example, the highest price ever paid for a Francis Bacon painting was achieved when 3 Works: Studies Of Lucien Freud sold for a staggering £89.4M at Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary Evening Sale in New York on 12 November 2013. This article explores the most expensive Francis Bacon pieces sold at auction to date.

£89.4M for 3 Works: Studies Of Lucien Freud

(US$142,405,000)

Bacon and Freud met in 1945 and were almost inseparable for nearly three decades. Together they drank, gambled, gossiped and propelled each other’s arts to greater heights. During their friendship, Bacon made three triptychs of Freud – 3 Works: Studies Of Lucian Freud was the last one he created.

The three paintings were, for a few years, sold to different collectors but eventually were reunited again as a triptych. When the work came up for auction at Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary Evening Sale in New York on 12 November 2013, it was the subject of an intense six-minute bidding battle. At US$142.4 million, it remains the most expensive work by Bacon at auction today.

£68.7M for Triptych Inspired By The Oresteia Of Aeschylus

(US$84,550,000)

Triptych Inspired By The Oresteia Of Aeschylus by Francis BaconTriptych Inspired By The Oresteia Of Aeschylus © Francis Bacon 1981

Triptychs were one of Bacon’s favourite painting formats. “So far as my work has any quality, I often feel perhaps it is the triptychs that have the most quality,” he has said. Triptych Inspired By The Oresteia Of Aeschylus references the 5th century B.C. Greek tragedy Oresteia by Aeschylus – a tale of murder, revenge and justice. Aeschylus’s stories had struck a chord with Bacon’s own experiences, the artist has said the Ancient Greek tragedian’s books “open up the valves of sensation for me”.

Sotheby’s estimated the triptych around US$60 million but when it was offered in their Contemporary Art Evening Auction in New York on 29 June 2020, it soared to US$84.5 million.

£47.7M for Three Studies For A Portrait Of John Edwards

(US$80800000)

Three Studies For A Portrait Of John Edwards by Francis BaconThree Studies For A Portrait Of John Edwards © Francis Bacon 1984

Bacon met East London bartender John Edwards in the early 1970s, when Edwards was 22 years old and the artist was in his sixties. While Bacon’s other friends dismissed Edwards as “a typical East End diamond geezer”, the pair became close companions for 16 years. The artist nicknamed Edwards “Eggs” to his Bacon and even called him “my only true friend”. He left his £11 million estate to the young Londoner after his death.

Three Studies For A Portrait Of John Edwards sold in Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary Evening Sale in New York on 13 May 2014 for US$80.8 million to an anonymous Asian buyer, according to the Irish Times.

£44.2M for Triptych, 1976

(US$86,281,000)

Triptych, 1976 by Francis BaconTriptych, 1976 © Francis Bacon 1976

When Triptych, 1976 sold at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction in New York on 14 May 2008, it not only set an auction record for Bacon at the time but became the most expensive work by a contemporary artist sold at auction.

Sotheby's had estimated the painting to realise around US$70 million, according to the New York Times – it achieved over 20% more. Provenance no doubt increased its value: the sellers were the esteemed Moueix family who owned Château Pétrus, one of the world’s most expensive wines, and the painting had previously been shown in Bacon’s major exhibitions at the Tate Gallery in 1985 and the Pompidou Centre, Paris, in 1996. “The world has been waiting for a great triptych, and this is it,” Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s Head of Contemporary Art, said at the time.

£43.3M for Study for a Portrait of Lucian Freud

Study for Portrait of Lucian Freud by Francis BaconImage © Sotheby's / Study for Portrait of Lucian Freud © Francis Bacon, 1964

Between 1964 and 1971, Bacon painted friend, rival and colleague Lucian Freud 14 times. Study for a Portrait of Lucian Freud bears witness to the intricate yet dynamic relationship that motivated these two greats of the 20th century. The painting was inspired by a photograph of Freud taken by John Deakin, Bacon’s friend and assistant. Originally part of a triptych, this study was last seen in a travelling exhibition in 1965, before resurfacing on the market this past June, when it fetched over £43 million.

With two portraits of Lucian Freud on the podium of the most expensive Bacon painting ever sold, one thing is clear, the art world can never have enough of this legendary duo.

£42.2M for Portrait Of George Dyer Talking

Portrait Of George Dyer Talking by Francis BaconPortrait Of George Dyer Talking © Francis Bacon 1966

As the famous (but untrue) story goes – in 1963, Bacon caught George Dyer, an East London petty criminal, trying to burgle his home in South Kensington. The two were lovers until Dyer’s death in 1971.

Portrait Of George Dyer Talking was made three years after their meeting and Dyer would appear in over 40 of Bacon’s paintings. The painting sold at Christie’s in New York for £4 million in 2000. When it came up for auction again at Christie’s in London 14 years later, it achieved £42 million.

£39.9M for Three Studies For A Portrait Of George Dyer

(US$51,767,500)

Three Studies For A Portrait Of George Dyer by Francis BaconThree Studies For A Portrait Of George Dyer © Francis Bacon 1963

Three Studies For A Portrait Of George Dyer was Bacon’s first portrait of Dyer, made three months into their decade-long relationship. It was first owned by writer Roald Dahl, who was a fan of Bacon’s art – he used the royalties from James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the screenplay of the James Bond film You Only Live Twice to purchase the Dyer triptych along with three other Bacon artworks between 1964-67.

By the time Three Studies was offered in Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary Evening Sale in New York on 17 May 2017, the triptych belonged to a new owner – but its provenance and importance propelled its value to US$51.8 million.

£39.4M for Study For A Head

(US$50,380,000)

Study For A Head by Francis BaconStudy For A Head © Francis Bacon 1952

Estimated at US$20-30 million, Study For A Head achieved almost double its high estimate when it sold at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction in New York on 16 May 2019. Bidding started at US$15 million and a four-minute bidding battle commenced between buyers in the saleroom and over the telephone, eventually selling for US$50.3 million with fees. The painting was one of the earliest works by Bacon to enter into a private American collection and had only been exhibited once before in its whole history.

£38.3M for Triptych 1986-87

Triptych by Francis Bacon Image © Christie's / Triptych © Francis Bacon 1986-87

Employing his celebrated triptych format, this work epitomises Bacon’s haunting painterly style. Sold for £38.3 million at Christies on the 1st March 2022, Triptych contains an interesting combination of imagery. The left panel depicts president Woodrow Wilson leaving the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, the right, an image of Leon Trotsky’s study after his assassination, and in the centre, a portrait of Bacon’s then-partner John Edwards. Together the work forms a meditation on the passing of time in the artist’s own life, where key events of the 20th century essentially form the framework in which Bacon can perhaps come to terms with the tumultuous experiences that shaped him on a more personal level.

£36.9M for Study For Portrait

(US$49,812,500)

Study For Portrait by Francis BaconStudy For Portrait © Francis Bacon 1977

Painted in 1977, Study For Portrait was one of the last portraits Bacon made of his late lover, George Dyer. The painting had belonged to Bacon’s friend Magnus Konow, who bought the work soon after it was completed.

“Bacon would always talk about Dyer,” recalled Konow. “I think that he was the only man he really loved in his life. I find this work is so powerful – for me it is probably one of the best paintings of their mystical love affair, and that’s what drew me to it.” The work went on to sell for US$49.8 million at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York on 17 May 2018.

£26.5M for Pope Innocent X

(US$52,680,000)

Study From Innocent X by Francis BaconStudy From Innocent X © Francis Bacon 1962

Bacon painted variations of Diego Velázquez’s Portrait Of Innocent X for over 20 years, from 1949 to the mid-1960s, resulting in nearly 50 canvases. These ‘Screaming Popes’ are now considered Bacon’s most famous early works.

While both Christie’s and Sotheby’s have offered a number of Bacon’s Pope Innocent X paintings over the last decade, none has topped Study From Innocent X, which sold at Sotheby’s in New York on 15 May 2007 for nearly US$52.7 million.

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