# Francis Bacon artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/francis-bacon/ Profile generated: 2026-04-29T20:07:25.850Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1909-10-28 - Death date: 1992-04-28 - Nationality: Irish, British - Movements: Post-war British figurative painting - Common media: oil on canvas, works on paper ## About Francis Bacon Francis Bacon (1909–1992) was an Irish-born British painter recognized as one of the most important figurative artists of the twentieth century. Born in Dublin, he moved to London in the late 1920s and remained primarily based there for the rest of his career. Bacon's work is known for its visceral, emotionally charged depictions of the human body—distorted figures enclosed in cage-like geometrical structures, screaming popes, crucifixion scenes, and penetrating portraits of intimate companions. He drew inspiration from sources including Velázquez, Picasso, film stills, and photography. Major retrospectives have been held at institutions including Tate, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Centre Pompidou. Bacon worked steadily from the late 1920s until his death in Madrid in 1992, and his paintings are held in museum collections worldwide. ## Common works and media Bacon's most commonly encountered works in auction and appraisal contexts include oil on canvas paintings—single panels and triptychs—depicting distorted human figures, papal portraits, self-portraits, and animal imagery. Works on paper, including drawings and studies, also appear, though Bacon himself disputed the significance of his works on paper. Lithographic and screen prints after his paintings circulate in the secondary market. Collectors may also encounter exhibition posters, catalogues, and photographs related to Bacon's studio practice, though these are not original artworks. ## Market and appraisal context Francis Bacon's secondary market is one of the deepest and most liquid in post-war art. Appraisily auction records index 1,667 lots attributed to Bacon, with 1,089 carrying a realized price—spanning sales from May 1998 through April 2026. The price distribution is extremely wide: the low end starts at $2 (books, ephemera) while the recorded maximum reaches approximately $86.3 million, reflecting major unique paintings sold through top-tier houses. The interquartile range ($2,880–$17,780) and median ($8,000) are dominated by prints, lithographs, and works on paper rather than unique oil paintings, which trade at orders of magnitude higher. Liquidity remains strong with 82 priced lots in the most recent 12-month window (down from 113 in the prior year), indicating a still-active but slightly cooling market at the print-and-works-on-paper tier. Named auction houses in the record include Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Artcurial, Forum Auctions, Koller, Setdart, and Millon, confirming broad international circulation across London, New York, Paris, and continental European salerooms. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Francis Bacon's secondary market is one of the deepest and most liquid in post-war art. Appraisily auction records index 1,667 lots attributed to Bacon, with 1,089 carrying a realized price—spanning sales from May 1998 through April 2026. The price distribution is extremely wide: the low end starts at $2 (books, ephemera) while the recorded maximum reaches approximately $86.3 million, reflecting major unique paintings sold through top-tier houses. The interquartile range ($2,880–$17,780) and median ($8,000) are dominated by prints, lithographs, and works on paper rather than unique oil paintings, which trade at orders of magnitude higher. Liquidity remains strong with 82 priced lots in the most recent 12-month window (down from 113 in the prior year), indicating a still-active but slightly cooling market at the print-and-works-on-paper tier. Named auction houses in the record include Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Artcurial, Forum Auctions, Koller, Setdart, and Millon, confirming broad international circulation across London, New York, Paris, and continental European salerooms. ### Appraisal notes An Appraisily appraisal for a Francis Bacon work would combine these auction records with physical inspection details: medium and substrate identification (oil on canvas versus lithograph or screen print), dimensions, signature and edition numbering, plate and state details for prints, condition assessment (creases, foxing, fading, restoration), and documented provenance. For unique paintings, inclusion in the 2016 Martin Harrison catalogue raisonné and confirmation from the Estate of Francis Bacon are critical authentication steps. For prints, edition size, impression number, and publisher stamps materially affect value. Comparable-lot selection should filter by medium, dimensions, date of execution, and sale recency, and should weight results from Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams most heavily given their dominance in Bacon's auction record. The extreme price dispersion in this dataset—$2 to $86 million—means automated comparable selection without medium and category filtering would be unreliable. ### Valuation factors - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Collector notes - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market caveats - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market evidence sources - Appraisily auction record index: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/francis-bacon/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - Invaluable / Bonhams: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-francis-bacon-1909-1992-miroir-de-la-tauromachie-4-86-c-c42338ae9b - Invaluable / Millon & Associes: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-francis-bacon-1909-1992-deuxieme-version-triptyque-1944-1989-340-c-37d70b165c - Invaluable / Bonhams: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-francis-bacon-1909-1992-study-from-human-body-88-c-71b1aadf9a - Invaluable / Bonhams: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-francis-bacon-1909-1992-metropolitan-museum-of-art-81-c-4cb665f608 - Invaluable / Bonhams: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-francis-bacon-1909-1992-triptych-82-c-8e2b6d1f1d - Invaluable / Bonhams: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-francis-bacon-1909-1992-seated-figure-87-c-d1eae37e6b - Invaluable / Bonhams: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-francis-bacon-1909-1992-logique-de-la-sensation-85-c-0032dc837c - Invaluable / Bonhams: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-francis-bacon-1909-1992-right-panel-from-triptyque-aout-1972-84-c-60e46ea3e8 - Invaluable / Roseberys: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-francis-bacon-logic-de-la-sensation-1981-40-c-5502bfdcb2 - Invaluable / Freeman's: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-francis-bacon-british-1909-1992-metropolitan-museum-of-art-1975-100-c-e8035d089d - Invaluable / Millon & Associes: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-francis-bacon-1909-1992-d-apres-lying-figure-small-2015-338-c-9dadd9f2f6 ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from museum, library authority, and estate sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Francis Bacon, this page draws on the Estate of Francis Bacon, Tate, the Library of Congress, RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, VIAF, and Wikidata. ## Sources - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79139544 - RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/3435 - Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/francis-bacon-682 - Estate of Francis Bacon: https://www.francis-bacon.com/ - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q154340 - VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/14789843/ - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon_(artist)