Francis Bacon's Three Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer, 1963, will be publicly exhibited for free in New York ahead of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 17 May. The work will be on display to the public between 6 and 17 May at Christie's 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York. Please refer to Christie's auction calendar website for more details including exhibition dates and times. If you're planning to view this work, we recommend first check with Christie's directly as all exhibition details are subject to change. This is the first, of at least forty Bacon paintings, that feature the artist's greatest source of inspiration, long-time muse and lover, George Dyer. Many of the paintings to feature George Dyer were created after Dyer's death in Paris in 1971, which occurred barely 36 hours before Bacon's major retrospective opened at the Grand Palais. Three Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer is one of only five triptychs that Bacon painted of Dyer in this intimate scale. In this portrait, Bacon also started to introduce modulations of the eyes - open, closed or half-closed - from panel to panel. Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York 17 May 2017, 19:00 EDT Christie's, New York Word ref: Christie's website and Martin Harrison, FSA. 63-15 Three Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer, 1963, Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné, Volume III, page 738.
