Pablo Picasso’s Buste de femme au chapeau and Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of George Dyer have a combined high estimate of $70m and will be offered at its Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on November 14 and its Contemporary Art Evening Auction on November 16 respectively.
Buste de femme combines attributes of two of Picasso’s great muses: Marie-Thérèse Walter and Dora Maar. The oil remained in the artist’s personal collection until his death and was inherited by his daughter. It is estimated at $18m-25m and is being sold to benefit charitable organisations including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Bacon’s oil Three studies of George Dyer (1966) is a rare, intimate look at the artist’s lover. It is executed from photos of Dyer taken by John Deakin and has not been seen publically since it was exhibited shortly after its creation. It is estimated at $35m-45m.
“George Dyer triptychs hold a particularly important place in Francis Bacon’s oeuvre,” says Grégoir Billault of Sotheby’s.
