Roald Dahl-owned Francis Bacon portait to go under the hammer
Expected to fetch between $13.38 and $20 million
The iconic painting, Study for Head of Lucian Freud, by Irish artist Francis Bacon, which was owned by British author Roald Dahl, measures 14 inches by 12 and will be offered in Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale on July 1.
The eerie portrait — that has an estimated value of $20 million — was bought by Roald Dahl for $4,768 in 1967 with the income from the previous year's first British publication of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
"Following on from Christie's success in making a world record for Bacon's The Three Studies of Lucian Freud, 1969, which sold in November 2013 for $142.4 million, the highest price ever paid at auction for a work of art, Study for Head of Lucian Freud connects three titans of the arts from the 20th century, and draws together Bacon, Freud and Dahl at the height of their artistic powers," said Francis Outred, Christie's Head of Post-War & Contemporary Art, Europe.
