Francis Bacon’s tribute to his closest friend is sold for £47m

 
Mystery buyer: Francis Bacon’s triptych of closest friend John Edwards, who inherited most of the artist’s fortune
Tom Teodorczuk14 May 2014

A Bacon Bacon triptych of his closest friend has sold for nearly £50 million in New York, crowning another record-breaking night for contemporary art.

Bacon’s Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards, painted in 1984, was sold to a mystery Chinese buyer at Christie’s New York post-war and contemporary art sale last night for £47.7 million ($80.8 million).

It was one of the most lucrative nights in art auction history with the total sale amassing £439.5 million ($744.9 million).

Bacon, one of the greatest figurative painters of the 20th century, met Edwards at Soho’s Colony Room in 1974. Bacon referred to Edwards, a barman and former gay model, as his “only true friend” though Edwards always denied they had a sexual relationship.

In the three paintings Bacon depicts Edwards sitting on a stool with his leg crossed over his knee against a green background. He painted his confidant more than 20 times. Bacon’s will, following his death in 1992, left most of his £11 million fortune to Edwards, who died of lung cancer in Bangkok in 2003.

A 20th-century great: artist Francis Bacon (Picture: REXMAILPIX)

Other major sales included Black Fire 1 by late abstract expressionist painter Barnett Newman, which fetched £49.7 million ($84.1 million) and an untitled 1952 work by Mark Rothko sold for £39.1 million ($66.2 million).

Andy Warhol continued to prove alluring to buyers, with two works from his “Death and Disaster” series far exceeding estimates. Race Riot 1964 sold for £37.1 million ($62.9 million) to New York art dealer Larry Gagosian while White Marilyn — his iconic 1962 portrait of Marilyn Monroe — went under the hammer for £24.2 million ($41 million).

Only four of the 72 artworks on offer at Christie’s went unsold and there were 10 new artist record prices.

Brett Gorvy, chairman and international head of contemporary art at Christie’s, described the sale as a “phenomenal success”.

The world record price for a Bacon artwork remains his triptych of Lucian Freud which sold for £85.3 million ($142 million) last November.

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