Three Studies of Lucian Freud

Francis Bacon's 'Three Studies of Lucian Freud' (1969) is a triptych of oil paintings in which Bacon's close friend and rival, the painter Lucian Freud, sits on a caned chair within a cage-like brass armature — his face distorted in three related variations as though under visible pressure. The triptych is a defining statement of Bacon's late portrait mode, balancing extreme physical distortion with sharp intimacy. In 2013 the three panels sold together at Christie's New York for USD 142.4 million, then the highest price ever paid for a work of art at auction.