Francis Bacon and Luician Freud
(Picture: Harry Diamond)A Francis Bacon portrait of fellow painter – and Soho drinking buddy – Lucian Freud that has not been seen for more than half-a-century is expected to sell for more than £35 million this month.
The 1964 painting is going under the hammer at Sothebys having been held by a private collector for 40 years.
Bacon based it on a series of black and white photographs taken by their mutual friend – and Vogue photographer - John Deakin.
Study for Portrait of Lucian Freud was originally conceived as one of three pictures shown together, but Bacon separated it into three individual works shortly after it was created.
All three were shown as part of a European exhibition and today one is still held by a private collector while the other is in the collection of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
The painting being sold at auction shows Freud in a combative pose with his hands bunched into fists and his shirt open and his sleeves rolled up.
The two men had known each other for 20 years when Bacon painted it and were inseparable for decades when they drank and dined together almost every night and regularly scrutinised each other’s work.
But their friendship fell apart in the 1980s with Freud reportedly jealous of his friend’s success though Bacon kept the photographs of him and they were discovered in his studio, splattered with paint, on his death in 1992.
Tom Eddison, Senior Director of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s , said: “In this one single portrait we bear witness to a masterpiece, illuminating the deep and complex relationship between two titans of the twentieth century.
“It is hard to think of two greater artists whose lives and works are so interwoven into the fabric of our consciousness than Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud.
“At the same time both muses and critics for each other, it was their friendship, respect, rivalry and deep infatuation with one another, which ultimately fuelled their unequivocal artistic talents.
“Executed with painterly bravura at the height of Bacon’s acclaim, here we see a portrait that pulsates with an intensity, a tension that mirrors the emotions which bonded these two sparring partners together for over four decades.
“Now, having remained completely unseen to the public for 57 years, this remarkable portrait will return to London as the star highlight of the summer auction season.”
:: The painting goes on sale as part of Sotheby’s British Art: The Jubilee Auction sale on June 29
