On 14 May 2013 in New York at Sotheby's, during the Contemporary Art auction, will be presented Study for a Portrait of PL by Francis Bacon (1962). This portrait stands out as a tribute to the artist's unfortunate lover, with whom Bacon had an important relationship for his life.
Posthumously painted a few months after Lacy's early death (caused by alcohol abuse in 1962), this painting is the most important and iconic Portrait of Lacy ever created by Bacon and formally marks the evolution of his work over the following decades. "Study for a portrait of PL" has not been exhibited to the public since 1972.
A work, a surprisingly intimate portrait capable of expressing the strength that bound Bacon to Peter Lacy, portrayed here unequivocally. This portrait it was estimated at 30-40 million dollars, will be exhibited from 12 to 16 April in London at Sotheby's and then go to New York, where it will be possible to admire it from 3 May.
It was 1952 when Bacon met Peter Lacy, in the Soho Colony Room, a former Battle of Britain pilot. Theirs was a story of stormy passion, often violent to the point of being described as "disastrous" for the artist. In the mid-1950s, Lacy moved to Tangier, attracted by the city's exotic lifestyle and tolerance of homosexuality. The city, however, proved to be a fatal arena for Lacy and Bacon received news of his death along with telegrams congratulating him on his Tate exhibition.
With a tormented personality, Bacon captures the image of his lover as he himself had intimately observed him and places it in a chromatism of blue bands, trying to wrap the memory in a form of abstract expressionism with a Picasso influence.
