Triptych, Francis Bacon, 1976
Bacon Triptych Auctioned for Record $86 Million – New York Times
I didn’t believe I recalled seeing this triptych before, but considering how different it looks in the following image
— I’m not really sure anymore. Not that it matters at all. The benumbingly huge price of the work duly smacks the bell at the top of the WTF-meter, but with a rather tired-sounding ding — as though the work- gape-force is starting to wish it could replace itself with robots, already. What do we suppose would happen to the price of art, if the business of dealing the stuff were fully automated?
This is somehow depressing.
The oddest art exhibit I ever saw was Bacon paired with Frankenthaler (at MoMA in LA) – it was like – okay, you’ve been through the ringer with Bacon, now peace out with these huge color field paintings. Kind of like if you went to a concert of the Sex Pistols and Brian Eno.
It was pretty cool.
Oops. I meant MOCA in LA, not MoMa in NYC.