Landscape near Malabata, Tangier, a 1963 painting by Francis Bacon, will preside over Christie’s 20th/21st Century Evening Sale in London on March 7. The work has not been reintroduced to the market for almost four decades. Since its last auction in 1985, the presale estimate of £15 million to £20 million ($18.8 million to $25 million) is greater than 35 times its selling price. It sold for $517,000 at Sotheby’s New York at the time, setting a world record for the artist. It had been in the possession of American actress Patricia Neal and British author Roald Dahl in the past.
Bacon created the work approximately one year following the alcohol-related demise of his companion Peter Lacy in Tangier, Morocco, with the intention of honouring his life partner and paying homage to their relationship.
“Inspired by the landscapes of the master Vincent Van Gogh, this painting is packed with the emotional intensity Bacon is celebrated for. It represents the extremes of love, loss, ecstasy and pain in the wake of the death of his great love Peter Lacy,” – head of post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s Europe Katharine Arnold said.
Bacon and Lacy embarked on their professional journey together in 1952, subsequent to the artist’s separation from merchant financier Eric Hall, at the Colony Room in Soho. Along with being a former fighter pilot, Lacy was a man profoundly tormented. Reportedly, he struggled with alcoholism and exhibited violent tendencies. Lacy allegedly assaulted Bacon and hurled the artist through a plate-glass window on one occasion, as detailed by art critic John Richardson in an article for the New York Review of Books.
However, this did not impede Bacon’s affection for Lacy. In fact, the nature of their relationship continued to intensify. Moreover, it gained intricacy due to its infusion of the identical ardour, fury, and fixation that formed the bedrock of Bacon’s artwork. Bacon conveyed to Lacy in Tangier, via telegram dated May 24, 1962, his elation over the triumphant debut of his inaugural retrospective at the Tate Gallery in London. However, Bacon received no response other than the news that the passion of his life had passed away.
“He was the only man I ever loved” the artist reflected.
Bacon was deeply affected by the demise of Lacy; in remembrance, he produced triptych Study for Three Heads (1962), which was completed soon thereafter and is now housed in the MoMA collection; and Study for Portrait of P.L. (1962), which is located in a private collection in Europe. In 2013, the latter was put up for auction but failed to secure a purchaser.
The vicinity of Tangier, close to Malabata, has undergone multiple private transactions over the years. The current proprietor obtained the artwork from the firm of London art dealer Ivor Braka in 2000. International exhibitions have been held for the painting ever since its 1963 début at the Marlborough gallery in London. “Francis Bacon: Man and Beast” in London was the last exhibition to feature it in 2022. The artwork will be on display at Christie’s in New York from today, Valentine’s Day, through February 19, before returning to London for an auction preview exhibition from March 1 to 7.
In November 2013, Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969) was sold at Christie’s New York, setting Bacon’s auction record at $142.4 million; at the time, it was the most expensive work of art to ever be sold at auction. Since 2014, however, prices for the artist’s work have decreased.
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