Tuesday, November 12, 2013

New Record Set at Art Auction Francis Bacon

A cameraman films Francis Bacon's 'Three Studies of Lucien Freud' on display at Christie's on October 14, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) | Peter Macdiarmid via Getty Images.

NEW YORK (AP) — A 1969 painting by Francis Bacon set a world record for most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.

"Three Studies of Lucian Freud" was purchased for $142,405,000 at Christie's postwar and contemporary art sale on Tuesday night. The triptych depicts Bacon's artist friend.

The work sold after "6 minutes of fierce bidding in the room and on the phone," Christie's said in a statement. The price includes the buyer's premium. Christie's did not say who bought the painting.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Lost Van Gogh found

More than 120 years after Vincent van Gogh's death, a new painting by the Dutch master has come to light.

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which holds the largest collection of the artist's work, announced Monday the discovery of the newly identified painting, a landscape titled "Sunset at Montmajour."

"A discovery of this magnitude has never before occurred in the history of the Van Gogh Museum," the museum's director, Axel Ruger, said in a statement.

Van Gogh is believed to have completed the relatively large painting in 1888, two years before his death and during "a period that is considered by many to be the culmination of his artistic achievement," Ruger said.

The picture depicts a landscape in the vicinity of Arles in the south of France, where van Gogh was working at that time, the museum said. Click image above for full story.