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''Three Studies for George Dyer'' is a small-format
triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...
painted by the Irish-born British artist
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
in 1964. It comprises three portraits of Bacon's lover George Dyer: from left to right, a three-quarter view, a right profile, and a face-on view. It was painted in the first half of 1964, within a year of Bacon first meeting Dyer in late 1963, and was based on photographs of Dyer taken by
John Deakin John Deakin (8 May 1912 – 25 May 1972) was an English photographer, best known for his work centred on members of Francis Bacon (artist), Francis Bacon's The Colony Room, Soho inner circle. Bacon based a number of famous paintings on photogra ...
. Bacon painted about 40 triptychs in this small format, with each portrait measuring . This is one of five of Dyer in the small format, the others completed in 1963, 1964 (on a pink ground), 1966 and 1969. Unlike the four other small-format Dyer triptychs, one of which was painted on a pink ground and the others on a dark ground, this version was painted on a light yellowish ground. Bacon used heavy structural brushstrokes in a limited palette of red/orange, black, and white, with a touch of blue. The painting was included in the Bacon retrospective held at the Grand Palais in Paris: Dyer committed suicide the evening before it opened in 1971. The triptych was held in a private collection from 1970 until it was sold at
Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
in London in June 2014 for £26.7m, including buyer's premium. Sotheby's sold Francis Bacon's 1966 “Three Studies of George Dyer” for $38.6 million following a single telephone bid placed by a collector on 16 November 2017


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''Three studies for portrait of George Dyer'' (on light ground)
Sotheby's, 30 June 2014
Sotheby's London Hits High Notes with £93 Million Sale
artnet.com, 30 June 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Three Studies For George Dyer Paintings by Francis Bacon 1964 paintings