15 May 2008 - 03H54
Painting sets new record for artist Bacon
The 1976 'Triptych' painting by Francis Bacon smashed the previous record for a painting by the Irish artist, selling for 86.2 million dollars at Sotheby's auction house in New York.
A three-panel work by Francis Bacon was sold at auction in New York late Wednesday for 86.2 million dollars, setting a new record for a painting by the Irish artist.
"Triptych," painted in 1976, beat the previous record for a Bacon sold at Sotheby's auction house in New York by more than 30 million dollars.
It was described by the house as the most important work by the artist in private hands, having been in the same collection since it was acquired from a show at the Galerie Claude Bernard in Paris in 1977.
"The world has been waiting for a great Bacon triptych, and this is it," Tobias Meyer, Sotheby's worldwide head of contemporary art, said in a statement advertising the sale last month.
The sale comes a day after "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping," a nude by British artist Lucian Freud, became the most expensive work ever by a living artist after selling at Christie's New York for more than 34 million dollars Tuesday.
It demonstrated for the second consecutive week -- after robust impressionist sales at Sotheby's and Christie's last week -- that the faltering US economy has not gutted the international art market.
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