Bacon self-portrait sells for €15 million

A Francis Bacon self-portrait triptych has sold for over £13 million (€15 million) at auction.

The work, Three Studies for a Self-Portrait, dates from 1980, when the artist was 71.

It was painted nine years after the suicide of Bacon’s partner, George Dyer, and demonstrates the artist’s self-analysis.

An anonymous telephone buyer fought off competition from two other bidders to buy the artwork for £13,761,250 (€15,983,169) at Sotheby’s contemporary art auction.

The oil on canvas piece belongs to a set of 11 triptych self-portraits in Bacon’s particular format of 14 by 12 inches. Cheyenne Westphal, chairman of European contemporary art at Sotheby’s, said: “We are extremely pleased with the price achieved tonight for this sublime self-portrait triptych by Francis Bacon.

“Works of this quality and wall power continue to attract a truly global spread of bidders.

“Three Studies for a Self-Portrait is a quintessential example of how Bacon distilled the great depths of his emotion in a very particular small format triptych, which are so sought after by discerning collectors.”