Soon to be offered at auction, this 1962 portrait by fabled figurative painter Francis Bacon is expected to reach an impressively high price of $30-$40 million. It is an oil on canvas depicting the artist’s great love, Peter Lacy, who is known to have been quite a violent person with an alcohol problem. His addiction eventually led to his demise, and this particular portrait was done several months after he died.
Bacon chose to illustrate his late lover seating on a bench, with a glass of alcohol in his hand. The painting has not been seen on the market since 1972, but now Sotheby’s is bringing it out again and putting it up for sale on May 14, 2013. Art lovers will have the opportunity to admire this wonderful painting and remember the tragic story behind it in London, at Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries (April 12-16) and also in New York (May 3).
