Five Francis Bacon Works Worth $33 Million Stolen in Spain
- March 14, 2016 16:45
Five artworks by Irish-born master Francis Bacon have been stolen from a private residence in Madrid, reports Spanish media.
El Pais reported on Sunday that the paintings were taken from a home while the owner was away, and the thieves disabled the security system. The owner is said to have been a close friend of Bacon, and perhaps his last lover, and had inherited the artwork when the artist died in 1992.
Valued at an estimated €30m ($33m), the missing Bacon works include landscapes and portraits, and were reported to have been stolen in June. Investigators have not given an explanation of why the theft was not made public sooner.
Bacon's Three Studies of Lucien Freud (1969) brought a record-setting $142.4 million at a Christie's auction in New York in 2013.
![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.")
