203
Francis Bacon
Untitled (Figure upside down on sofa)
- Estimate
- $100,000 - 150,000
$157,500
Lot Details
oil on canvas
inscribed “Figure upside down on sofa; seen from distance as in crouching figure” upper center; further inscribed “April 12 standing figure, seated figure, lying figure from Muybridge” on the reverse
24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm)
Painted circa 1957-1961.
The authenticity of this work was confirmed by Martin Harrison, author of Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné.
The authenticity of this work was confirmed by Martin Harrison, author of Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné.
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Provenance
Francis Bacon
Irish-British | B. 1909 D. 1992Francis Bacon was a larger-than-life figure during his lifetime and remains one now more than ever. Famous for keeping a messy studio, and even more so for his controversial, celebrated depictions of papal subjects and bullfights, often told in triptychs, Bacon signified the blinding dawn of the Modern era. His signature blurred portraits weren't murky enough to stave off his reputation as highly contentious—his paintings were provocations against social order in the people's eye. But, Bacon often said, "You can't be more horrific than life itself."
In conversation with yet challenging the conventions of Modern art, Bacon was known for his triptychs brutalizing formalist truths, particularly Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, which Bacon debuted in London in 1944, and Three Studies of Lucian Freud, which became famous when it set the record for most expensive work of art at auction at the time it sold in 2013.
Browse ArtistIn conversation with yet challenging the conventions of Modern art, Bacon was known for his triptychs brutalizing formalist truths, particularly Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, which Bacon debuted in London in 1944, and Three Studies of Lucian Freud, which became famous when it set the record for most expensive work of art at auction at the time it sold in 2013.