The work fell short of the $30 million to $50 million range the house had estimated for the George Dyer portrait debuting at auction
Sotheby’s art handlers hold Francis Bacon's “Portrait of George Dyer Crouching” during a media preview for Sotheby's "New York Marquee Evening Sales" on May 3, 2024, in New York City. Image credit: Photography TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP©
A portrait by British painter Francis Bacon of his great love sold for $27.7 million at Sotheby's spring sales in New York on Monday, topping the first night of contemporary art auctions that grossed $234.6 million.
The work fell short of the $30 million to $50 million range the house had estimated for the portrait -- the first in a series of 10 the painter made of George Dyer between 1966 and 1968 -- which was making its debut at auction.
The highest price paid for a single-panel portrait by Bacon is $70.2 million, which came from the same Dyer cycle.
American painter Joan Mitchell, whose works have led a revaluation of paintings by women artists, was one of the stars of the evening.
Her work "Noon" exceeded $22.6 million, maintaining an upward trend that began last November, when two pieces by the "second generation" American abstract expressionism artist fetched over $20 million for the first time.