Francis Bacon's final painting comes to light

Francis Bacon's final painting has been discovered in a private collection.

The work, titled Study of Bull, dates to 1991.

Francis Bacon Wiki
Francis Bacon died in Madrid in 1992

The following year, in 1992, Bacon travelled to Madrid, where he was admitted to a hospital as a result of complications tied to his chronic asthma.

He died soon afterwards.

As Martin Harrison, the art historian who tracked the work down, told the Guardian newspaper: "Bacon is ready to sign off…he was so ill.

"He knew exactly what he was doing here. Is the bull making an entrance? Is he receding to somewhere else? To his cremation?"

The piece has remained in the same collection for many years. It will be exhibited for the first time at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco from July 2.

Harrison explained how difficult the painting was to find: "These people who have them…

"It is not their job to tell me about their paintings, they are very rich and have lives to lead and they don't care. You need a slice of luck.

"It was the last painting he finished and there is no documentation for it and it is far too late for him to have spoken about it in interviews and it has never been shown before."

Bacon's Three Studies for a Portrait of Lucian Freud sold for a then art record price of $142.4m in 2013.

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