LONDON – A portrait by Francis Bacon of his lover and muse is going up for auction, with an estimated price of 30 million pounds ($49.3 million).
“Portrait of George Dyer Talking” depicts a young Londoner with whom Bacon had a turbulent relationship. It was exhibited at Bacon’s first major retrospective show in Paris in 1971. Dyer killed himself just before it opened.
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Francis Outred, head of contemporary art at Christie’s Europe, said Wednesday that the painting offered “a powerful portrait of arguably one of Bacon’s greatest loves.”
READ MORE: Francis Bacon painting sets worldwide auction record at $142M
It will be offered by Christie’s in London on Feb. 13.
The value of Bacon’s work has soared since his death in 1992. In November, a Bacon triptych depicting artist Lucian Freud fetched $142 million, becoming the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.
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