Francis Bacon self-portraits at Sotheby’s in New York estimated at €19.1m-€26.1m

An optimistic Francis Bacon double self portrait will lead Sotheby’s sale of contemporary art in New York next Wednesday evening.

Two Studies for a Self-Portrait (1970) portrays an elated Bacon a year before his career-defining retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris in 1971.

He was only the second living artist, after Picasso, to be awarded this honour.

The iconic status of this work lies in the fact that it was the cover for Milan Kundera and France Borel’s definitive work: Francis Bacon, Portraits and Self Portraits.

It is estimated at $22m-$30m (€19.1m-€26.1m).