Sotheby's is presenting Francis Bacon's "Head c. 1949" to its forthcoming Contemporary Art Evening Auction in London. The painting depicting an ethereal figure behind a curtain follows a series of Heads which Bacon started painting in 1948.
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“Within this series Bacon moves from the clearly animal (Heads I and II reveal bestial fangs) to the recognizably - if alarmingly - human” (Michael Peppiatt, Sotheby's auction cat. L12022, p. 212) The painting is estimated to sell between £1.2-1.8 million.