 "Francis Bacon’s")
A trophy painting by Francis Bacon failed to draw any bids at Christie’s in London after being offered at auction for £60 million ($78 million).
The unexpected outcome for the star lot of Christie’s evening sale of postwar and contemporary art on Friday drew a collective gasp in the sale room. The auctioneer began soliciting bids at £50 million and continued up to £58 million. None came.
Titled Study of Red Pope 1962. 2nd Version 1971, the 6.5-foot-tall canvas depicts Bacon’s two most famous subjects: his lover George Dyer and Pope Innocent X. It’s the only work that has both muses
