Francis Bacon's triptych, Three Studies of Lucian Freud, sold for $142.4 million at auction.
A painting by Irish-born artist Francis Bacon smashed the record for most expensive artwork sold at auction on Tuesday, after six minutes of “fierce” bidding, according to Christie’s. The auction took place in New York City.
The triptych piece — which depicts Bacon’s friend and fellow artist Lucian Freud — fetched $142.4 million from an unidentified buyer. The sale topped Christie’s pre-auction estimate for the work by more than $50 million and broke the previous auction record of $119.9 million set by Edvard Munch’s The Scream in May last year.
[AP]