Francis Bacon’s painting sold for £21.3m in LondonFebruary 15, 2012 - 10:34 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A painting of a female nude by Francis Bacon sold in London last night for £21.3m (€25.4m), The Irish Independent reported. Bacon's sexually charged 1963 canvas Portrait of Henrietta Moraes, showing one of his favorite models sprawled across a bed, had been valued at about £18m (€21.5m) in a 65-lot auction of contemporary art at Christie's International. The buyer was Sumiko Roberts, a London-based member of Christie's client services, acting for a customer on the telephone, outbidding at least one other telephone bidder. The painting had been entered from an unidentified "distinguished New York collection", according to Christie's catalogue. The seller was Sheldon Solow, a prominent Manhattan real estate developer and art collector, who had bought the work from Galerie Beyeler, Switzerland, in 1983, dealers said. Christie's refused to comment on ownership. Mr Solow was also the seller of a Joan Miro painting and a Henry Moore bronze that sold for record prices of £16.8m (€20m) £19.1m (€22.8m) at Christie's auction of Impressionist and modern works on February 7. London, with its sizeable population of wealthy international residents, has become an increasingly attractive auction venue for the sale of high-value modern and contemporary artworks. Dublin-born Bacon is the most expensive artist at auction in the UK. This particular portrait had never appeared at public sale before and had no guaranteed minimum price, said Christie's. It dates from the year that the painter embarked on his relationship with George Dyer. Moraes was a close friend of Bacon's during the 1950s and 1960s. Top stories Ara Aivazian said Azerbaijan continues the traditions of Turkey after seizing territories and forced Armenians out. The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. Partner news | Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life, Strong Mind IDBank and Idram summarize the results of the May program of “The Power of One Dram”. Yerevan State University, Ucom sign Memorandum of Cooperation Rector of Yerevan State University Hovhannes Hovhannisyan and General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian signed the memorandum. EU to provide budgetary support to Armenia The agreement is aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the educational system of Armenia. Aliyev: No peace treaty unless Armenia changes constitution Azerbaijan will not sign a peace treaty with Armenia unless the latter changes its constitution, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said. |