Gallery displays triptych clues

The Hugh Lane gallery in Dublin is to exhibit material relating to the auction-smashing triptych of Lucian Freud by Francis Bacon.

The material, relating to the triptych (three paintings in one), includes a photograph of Lucian Freud seated on a bed. This photograph, taken by John Deakin in the 1960s, had been manipulated by Bacon in advance of painting.

The photograph is deliberately torn, with the corner folded, so Freud’s left leg is obscured. The fold is fixed with paper clips, a practice of Bacon’s, and paint marks on the photograph indicate Bacon consulted the photograph during the painting process.