Francis Bacon's Rare 'Pope' from Tangier Series Heads to Sotheby's New York

A rare Francis Bacon painting, 'Pope' (circa 1958), will be the highlight of Sotheby's New York Contemporary Art Evening Auction on November 14. The work, estimated at $6-8 million, is being sold by the Brooklyn Museum to raise funds for its collection. It is the sole surviving canvas from Bacon's Tangier series, created during his tumultuous relationship with Peter Lacy. Bacon destroyed most works from this period, but six survived: five given to friend Nicolas Brusilowski, and this one, donated to the Brooklyn Museum in 1967 by collector Olga H. Knoepke. The entire Tangier Paintings group is cataloged in Martin Harrison's 2016 Francis Bacon raisonné. Grégoire Billault, Sotheby's head of contemporary art in New York, noted the painting offers rare insight into Bacon's psychological state during a prolific yet tormented period. The auction follows Sotheby's sale of another Bacon 'Pope', 'Study for a Head', for $50.4 million in May 2019.