Francis Bacon painting becomes the most expensive artwork ever auctioned

Francis Bacon painting of his friend and fellow artist Lucian Freud fetched £89m in New York.

18:00 13 November 2013

Francis Bacon painting, The triptych, Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969), which shows his friend and fellow artist Lucian Freud  has just became the most expensive artwork ever auctioned. It was sold for £89m in New York.

It is also considered one of Bacon’s greatest masterpieces. Christie’s auction house has said that the painting was sold in just six minutes of fierce bidding. It surpassed the price paid for Edvard Munch's The Scream last year (£74m).

Jeff Koons also broke the record for a price paid for a single artwork by a living artist on the same auction. His sculpture Balloon Dog (Orange) was sold for £36.7m. Gerhard Richter’s painting depicting an Italian city square held the record after it was sold in May for £23.3m.

Francis Outred, head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie's Europe, said the work was "a true masterpiece and one of the greatest paintings to come up for auction in a current generation".

"It marks Bacon and Freud's relationship, paying tribute to the creative and emotional kinship between the two artists."