Prince Albert of Monaco inaugurated the Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation on Tuesday. The new private non-profit institute's opening was timed to fall on the 105th anniversary of the birth of the controversial post-war British artist. Located in Monte Carlo's Villa Elise, the foundation has a trove of 2,000 artworks, photographs, works on paper, and working documents, along with the artist’s furniture and rug designs from his early career. Many works have never before been publicly-displayed.

Lebanese-born Swiss property developer Majid Boustany launched the foundation to increase global awareness of Bacon, host exhibitions and seminars, fund projects, support emerging artists, and promote scholarly activities in collaboration with the Francis Bacon Estate in London. Research will examine a period when Bacon lived and worked in Monaco and Southern France between 1946 and the early 1950s. 

A collector of Bacon's work and related items, Boustany became interested in the artist after viewing "Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion” (1944) at Tate Britain. Explained Boustany “Bacon’s enigmatic triptych challenged interpretation and triggered in me the need to explore his world.” 

Scholars and art historians will have access to the foundation throughout the year and visits by the public will be by appointment beginning in March 2015.