Francis Bacon portraits fetch £30 million at auction

Two self-portraits by the Irish-born painter Francis Bacon were sold for £30 million during a record sale at Sotheby's on Wednesday.

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The portraits, painted by Bacon in 1975 and 1980, had never previously been on display to the public. Experts knew of their existence, but did not know who had bought them. They resurfaced in a private collection earlier this year, after descendants of the original collector decided to sell.

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‘Self-Portrait’ (1975), which was was painted in the period which followed the suicide of his former lover George Dyer in 1971, sold for £15.3 million.

The triptych ‘Three Studies for Self-Portrait’ (1980) shows Bacon at 71, haunted by the inevitability of death, with eyes downcast. The piece went for £14.7million.

^{Self-Portrait, by Francis Bacon, on display in London ahead of the auction}

The paintings were described by Sotheby’s as "magnificent works [that] narrate the latter half of a most extraordinary decade for Francis Bacon."

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Works by Lucian Freud and Andy Warhol also featured at the auction house's contemporary art sale, which made a total of £130.4 million.

Alex Branczik, Sotheby's head of contemporary art, said: "We reached new heights at Sotheby's with the highest total we've ever achieved for contemporary art in London.

"Bidders from across the globe were drawn to Warhol works that ripped up the rule book for 20th-century art; rediscovered Francis Bacon gems; and some of the greatest works by British artists of the last 70 years.”