Francis Bacon Painting Becomes World's Most Expensive Artwork at Auction
- November 12, 2013 22:04
A triptych painted in 1969 by Francis Bacon took the lead as the priciest artwork ever sold at auction on Tuesday night.
"Three Studies of Lucian Freud" brought $142,405,000 at Christie's postwar and contemporary art sale after "6 minutes of fierce bidding in the room and on the phone," the auction house said in a statement.
The buyer has not been publicly named.
Bacon's painting of his friend Freud set the world record price for any artwork, a position previously held by the near-$120 million paid for Edvard Munch's The Scream, which sold at Sotheby's in a 2012 sale.
A 1976 triptych by Bacon held the artist's previous auction record of $86 million from a sale in 2008.
![Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.](/images/c/e2/2e/Jan20_Rape_of_Europa100x100_c.jpg "Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.")
