Francis Bacon

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After 6 Frenzied Minutes, Art Sale Record Smashed

Bacon triptych fetches $142.5M as balloon dog pops another record

(Newser) - The world's super-rich toppled plenty of records at a Christie's art auction in New York City last night—including the record for most expensive auction, which now stands at $691.5 million. A big chunk of that came from a single painting, a 1969 Francis Bacon triptych of...

Warhol's Double Elvis Sells for $37M

Lichtenstein's 'Sleeping Girl' brings in $45M

(Newser) - Another strong day for Sotheby's, though maybe not on the scale of the The Scream :
  • Andy Warhol's silkscreen Double Elvis sold for $37 million. One of 22 made by Warhol, it's based on a movie still and shows Elvis as a gun-toting cowboy, notes the Guardian .
  • Roy
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Francis Bacon's Work Relied on 'Gimmick'
 Francis Bacon's Work 
 Relied on 'Gimmick' 
ART REVIEW
May 20, 2009 1:37 PM CDT

Francis Bacon's Work Relied on 'Gimmick'

(Newser) - Francis Bacon’s paintings still have the ability to shock, but beneath that initial thrill lies a consistent, even amateur, formula that “had grown stagnant by 1965,” Jerry Saltz writes in New York in previewing a retrospective opening today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “The calculated...

Strapped Art Market Preps for Auctions

Expectations low as auction houses try variety of tactics

(Newser) - After a 7-year boom, art auction houses are struggling as collectors hit hard by the recession close their wallets. Sotheby’s predicts it will pull in $179 million to $256 million at spring sales, compared to $742 million a year ago. As the spring events approach, auctioneers are employing an...

Major Works Fail to Sell at Christie's

Dismal auction season continues as Bacon fails to find buyer

(Newser) - The art world bust continued last night at the Christie's contemporary auction in New York, where almost a third of the 75 works on the block went unsold. Not a single collector bid for the highlight of the sale, a self-portrait by Francis Bacon estimated to sell for around $40...

Painting Price Spells Gloom for Economy

Portrait of Bacon auctions for only $9.4M at Christie's

(Newser) - A Lucian Freud painting expected to sell for more than $12 million at Christie’s today went for only $9.4 million, a sign that even super-rich buyers of contemporary art are cutting back in the financial crisis, the Daily Telegraph reports. The art world anxiously awaited the sale of...

Bacon Breaks Record as Art Market Sizzles

Artist's 1976 masterpiece sells for $86M at red-hot Sotheby's sale

(Newser) - A 1976 triptych painting by Francis Bacon became the most expensive piece of contemporary art ever sold when it went for $86.2 million at auction last night, Reuters reports. Seventeen other artists also set records at the sale, boosting Sotheby's to the best night in its 300-year history and...

Contemporary Art Scores for Auction Houses

Sales swelled 36% in 2007; some fear houses too invested in the new

(Newser) - Contemporary art has been very good to Sotheby’s, fueling a 46% boost in sales for the world’s second-largest auctioneer this year over last, Bloomberg says. A crop of new collectors from the US, Russia and Asia brought new records for artists like Francis Bacon and Jeff Koons, for...

London Art Sales Soar
London Art Sales Soar
Jun 25, 2007 11:45 AM CDT

London Art Sales Soar

Bacon tops Sotheby's contemporary auctions; London shows new art-market clout

(Newser) - Francis Bacon took top honors and Damien Hirst became the highest-priced living artist—beating out Jasper Johns—at Sotheby's contemporary auctions in London last week. A 1971 Bacon self-portrait went for $43.2 million, and the Hirst pill cabinet called "Lullaby Spring" for $19.4 million. "Hirst is...

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