Bacon painting to fetch €45m

A PAINTING by Dublin-born Francis Bacon is tipped to fetch a record $70 million (€45m) when it goes under the hammer in New York shortly, Sotheby’s said yesterday.

The artist’s work, Triptych (1976), described by the auction house as “a masterwork of the first order” and rich in symbolism drawing on ancient Greek mythology, is to go on sale on May 14.

“This is undoubtedly the most important Bacon in private hands. It has been with the same collection ever since it was acquired 30 years ago,” said Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s worldwide head of contemporary art. “It is a masterpiece of the 20th century.”