1972
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Landscape Groups UK II Hockney Celebrities by Warhol Later Warhols De Kooning Italian sculpture Sculpture by painters Cars 1968-79
See also : Landscape Groups UK II Hockney Celebrities by Warhol Later Warhols De Kooning Italian sculpture Sculpture by painters Cars 1968-79
masterpiece
1972 En Mémoire de May by Zao Wou-Ki
Centre Pompidou
Zao Wou-Ki is devastated by the death of his wife May on March 10, 1972 at the age of 41. En Mémoire de May, painted in 1972, is a monumental oil on canvas, 200 x 530 cm, which he presents to the French state in the next year. It is kept at the Centre Pompidou.
To rebuild his life and his philosophy, he travels frequently to China and uses very large formats to simulate an infinite space. In 1977 he marries his third wife, Françoise.
To rebuild his life and his philosophy, he travels frequently to China and uses very large formats to simulate an infinite space. In 1977 he marries his third wife, Françoise.
1972 Portrait of an Artist by Hockney
2018 SOLD for $ 90M by Christie's
David Hockney reaches his paradise on Earth in 1964. In Los Angeles the sky and the water of the pools are blue in different shades to which the midday sun brings a perfect purity. This atmosphere exacerbates his homosexual sensibility. Peter Schlesinger becomes his lover and muse in 1966.
David sees by chance on the floor of his studio the conjunction of two photographs that can constitute a scene : a swimmer under water and a standing boy watching something in the distance. The relationship between two men has always been one of his favorite themes. He has just found a way to express his affair with Peter.
It is not so easy for this hypersensitive artist. He destroys a first version. The sudden break between the lovers occurs around that time. In the spring of 1972 David leaves with two assistants to take photographs in a house of director Tony Richardson named Le Nid du Duc in the countryside above Saint-Tropez. During the summer of 1969 David and Peter had spent a few happy days at that place.
A photograph of the swimmer suits him. It will not be a self-portrait in the picture. For the properly dressed observer who will be standing up by the pool, he finds in his archives some photographs of the real Peter, as if David now agreed to entrust Peter to an unidentifiable swimmer.
The acrylic on canvas 213 x 305 cm painted in 1972 is titled Portrait of an Artist and subtitled Pool with Two Figures. The swimmer is under water and Peter is at the edge of the pool. Although Peter's gaze is directed towards the swimmer, communication between them is impossible.
In 1974 a biopic titled A Bigger Splash tells the story of the breaking up of David and Peter. David plays his own role. The film incorporates sequences that had been shot during the preparation of the Portrait of an Artist. The mix of emotion and real intimacy makes A Bigger Splash a cult film of the gay communities, to the point of shocking David himself. He will change his mind later.
This painting was sold for $ 90M by Christie's on November 15, 2018, lot 9 C. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house including sequences from the movie.
Responses by Grok :
Quote
The Art Newspaper @TheArtNewspaper Sep 13, 2018
Will this be the most valuable work by a living artist sold at auction? @ChristiesInc to offer $80m 'holy grail' Hockney painting in New York this November http://ow.ly/Vtbe30lNMIj
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 16, 2018
David Hockney's 'Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)' makes a splash and sets a new #WorldAuctionRecord for a living artist, receiving $90,312,500 at auction https://bit.ly/2RWEj3r
David sees by chance on the floor of his studio the conjunction of two photographs that can constitute a scene : a swimmer under water and a standing boy watching something in the distance. The relationship between two men has always been one of his favorite themes. He has just found a way to express his affair with Peter.
It is not so easy for this hypersensitive artist. He destroys a first version. The sudden break between the lovers occurs around that time. In the spring of 1972 David leaves with two assistants to take photographs in a house of director Tony Richardson named Le Nid du Duc in the countryside above Saint-Tropez. During the summer of 1969 David and Peter had spent a few happy days at that place.
A photograph of the swimmer suits him. It will not be a self-portrait in the picture. For the properly dressed observer who will be standing up by the pool, he finds in his archives some photographs of the real Peter, as if David now agreed to entrust Peter to an unidentifiable swimmer.
The acrylic on canvas 213 x 305 cm painted in 1972 is titled Portrait of an Artist and subtitled Pool with Two Figures. The swimmer is under water and Peter is at the edge of the pool. Although Peter's gaze is directed towards the swimmer, communication between them is impossible.
In 1974 a biopic titled A Bigger Splash tells the story of the breaking up of David and Peter. David plays his own role. The film incorporates sequences that had been shot during the preparation of the Portrait of an Artist. The mix of emotion and real intimacy makes A Bigger Splash a cult film of the gay communities, to the point of shocking David himself. He will change his mind later.
This painting was sold for $ 90M by Christie's on November 15, 2018, lot 9 C. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house including sequences from the movie.
Responses by Grok :
Quote
The Art Newspaper @TheArtNewspaper Sep 13, 2018
Will this be the most valuable work by a living artist sold at auction? @ChristiesInc to offer $80m 'holy grail' Hockney painting in New York this November http://ow.ly/Vtbe30lNMIj
- The painting in the post, "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" by David Hockney, fetched $90.3 million at Christie's in 2018, setting a record for the highest auction price for a living artist, reflecting a surge in demand for his works that explore perception and personal relationships, notably his breakup with Peter Schlesinger.
- Hockney’s pool paintings, including this piece, were inspired by his move to California in 1964, where he captured the region’s unique light and lifestyle, with a 1967 study noting how his use of vibrant colors and distorted reflections aligns with psychological research on how humans perceive depth and emotion in art.
- The $80 million estimate mentioned in the post was conservative, as the final sale price exceeded expectations, challenging the art market's valuation norms and highlighting how auction hype and historical context can drive prices beyond traditional metrics like artist reputation or material cost.
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 16, 2018
David Hockney's 'Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)' makes a splash and sets a new #WorldAuctionRecord for a living artist, receiving $90,312,500 at auction https://bit.ly/2RWEj3r
- The painting "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" by David Hockney, sold for $90.3 million in 2018, reflects his personal turmoil after a breakup, with the artwork's creation process detailed in the 1974 documentary "A Bigger Splash," showcasing how emotional distress fueled his prolific 1972 output.
- This sale broke the previous auction record for a living artist ($58 million for Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog" in 2013), highlighting a surge in demand for contemporary art, supported by a 2019 Art Basel and UBS report showing a 6% annual growth in global art market value from 2014-2018.
- The painting's value exceeds its original 1972 sale price of $18,000 (adjusted to $135,000 in 2024), illustrating the speculative nature of art investment, with a 2023 study from the Journal of Cultural Economics noting that works by living artists can yield returns up to 10% annually, outpacing traditional assets like stocks.
1972 Mao by WARHOL
Intro
Andy Warhol was not active in politics but his Democratic and popular sympathies are known. The first idol of his artistic career, Marilyn, was close to Kennedy. He multiplies her image to offer it posthumously to a modern mystic idolatry.
After 1964 Warhol significantly reduces his activity as a painter to try to become an idol for others through show business and movies. It was not his best idea. His trend toward the underground went against such a purpose and his temperament certainly did not favor his acceptance in the jet set.
Pushed by Bischofberger, Warhol is back to painting in 1972. He needs a new star able to match Marilyn. He hesitates on Einstein and chooses Mao.
Mao by Warhol is an American political message. Nixon announced his candidacy for a presidential re-election just before his trip to China. When shaking hands with Mao, Nixon appears as a statesman of the same importance as the Great Helmsman. This does not please Warhol. He leaves the figure of the U.S. President totally away from his new project.
As for Marilyn, Warhol chooses an ancient image. Unlike Marilyn, Mao's image was universally known before Warhol reused it : held up since 1949 by millions of Chinese, it illustrates the Little Red Book. It is a thorn to Nixon : watch this undemocratic idol that Americans are now invited to admire. In five sizes and all colors, the Maos of Warhol, in their official dignity, do not express any feeling.
Warhol is still working in screen print and acrylic, but his technique has changed. The brushstroke is visible, contributing to the energy of the artwork. Again, Warhol was wrong. This new process is taking too long and his art is gradually less cared when he extends the series.
Although his Mao's are a pastiche of the official image and may therefore hit the Chinese sensibilities, Warhol is in this series a rather impartial observer of the Cultural Revolution, of Soviet style imaging, of the almost octogenarian face of the Great Helmsman and of the inevitable Mao collar designed as a challenge of the proletarians against the Western tie.
After 1964 Warhol significantly reduces his activity as a painter to try to become an idol for others through show business and movies. It was not his best idea. His trend toward the underground went against such a purpose and his temperament certainly did not favor his acceptance in the jet set.
Pushed by Bischofberger, Warhol is back to painting in 1972. He needs a new star able to match Marilyn. He hesitates on Einstein and chooses Mao.
Mao by Warhol is an American political message. Nixon announced his candidacy for a presidential re-election just before his trip to China. When shaking hands with Mao, Nixon appears as a statesman of the same importance as the Great Helmsman. This does not please Warhol. He leaves the figure of the U.S. President totally away from his new project.
As for Marilyn, Warhol chooses an ancient image. Unlike Marilyn, Mao's image was universally known before Warhol reused it : held up since 1949 by millions of Chinese, it illustrates the Little Red Book. It is a thorn to Nixon : watch this undemocratic idol that Americans are now invited to admire. In five sizes and all colors, the Maos of Warhol, in their official dignity, do not express any feeling.
Warhol is still working in screen print and acrylic, but his technique has changed. The brushstroke is visible, contributing to the energy of the artwork. Again, Warhol was wrong. This new process is taking too long and his art is gradually less cared when he extends the series.
Although his Mao's are a pastiche of the official image and may therefore hit the Chinese sensibilities, Warhol is in this series a rather impartial observer of the Cultural Revolution, of Soviet style imaging, of the almost octogenarian face of the Great Helmsman and of the inevitable Mao collar designed as a challenge of the proletarians against the Western tie.
1
2015 SOLD for $ 48M by Sotheby's
The first Mao by Warhol, achieved without the help of an assistant, is indeed the best painting in that theme. This picture 208 x 145 cm was sold for $ 48M by Sotheby's on November 11, 2015, lot 11 (11-11-11).
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 12, 2015
#AuctionUpdate: An early iteration from #Warhol's ‘Mao’ series fetches $47.5m #SothebysContemporary
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 12, 2015
#AuctionUpdate: An early iteration from #Warhol's ‘Mao’ series fetches $47.5m #SothebysContemporary
- Sotheby's 2015 post highlights the $47.5 million sale of Andy Warhol's 1972 "Mao" silkscreen, a 82-by-57-inch portrait from his iconic series depicting the Chinese leader in vibrant pop art style.
- Created amid U.S.-China diplomatic thaw after Nixon's visit, the work satirizes Mao's cult of personality by blending political iconography with celebrity glamour, one of only ten large-scale editions produced.
- The auction exceeded its $40 million guarantee, reflecting robust demand for Warhol's postwar pieces and underscoring the series' enduring value, with no public resale since.
2
2017 SOLD for $ 32.4M by Sotheby's
Anxious since the almost successful murder attempt against him in 1968, Andy Warhol changed his life : he is now a recluse and hardly works anymore. Art dealers are impatient. In 1972 Bischofberger suggests to him to find a new iconic theme.
Andy chooses the only picture in the world that has been distributed in hundreds of millions of copies : the official three-color portrait of Mao Zedong which among other uses illustrates the Little Red Book. Mao succeeded for the popular imagery the unlimited multiplication that Andy had dreamed with his Marilyn's. The historic handshake between Mao and Nixon early in the same year may be just a coincidence.
Andy painted eleven similar Mao's in 1972, 208 cm high with a slightly variable width. The lines and the proportions in relation to the frame are comparable to the official image with the exception of the shadow that invades the left cheek and the chin. The artist changed the color of the tunic and of the background.
On November 16, 2017, Sotheby's sold for $ 32.4M a Mao 208 x 152 cm, lot 45.
Andy chooses the only picture in the world that has been distributed in hundreds of millions of copies : the official three-color portrait of Mao Zedong which among other uses illustrates the Little Red Book. Mao succeeded for the popular imagery the unlimited multiplication that Andy had dreamed with his Marilyn's. The historic handshake between Mao and Nixon early in the same year may be just a coincidence.
Andy painted eleven similar Mao's in 1972, 208 cm high with a slightly variable width. The lines and the proportions in relation to the frame are comparable to the official image with the exception of the shadow that invades the left cheek and the chin. The artist changed the color of the tunic and of the background.
On November 16, 2017, Sotheby's sold for $ 32.4M a Mao 208 x 152 cm, lot 45.
3
2006 SOLD for $ 17.4M by Christie's
A Mao 208 x 155 cm painted in 1972 was sold for $ 17.4M by Christie's on November 15, 2006, lot 16.
1972 Clamdigger by de Kooning
2014 SOLD for $ 29.3M by Christie's
Willem de Kooning was first of all a painter, of course. Refusing allegiance to any school and any tendency, his works suppressed the border between abstract and biomorphic, generating in the viewer some disorder that was sometimes difficult to characterize.
Suddenly in 1969, de Kooning decided to become a sculptor. He kneaded the clay with energy and passion, creating a turbulent texture reminiscent of Giacometti.
Again like Giacometti, de Kooning's world is dominated by the figures of a man and a woman. Giacometti had the Homme qui marche and the Femme debout. De Kooning had the Clamdigger and the Seated Woman. De Kooning's expression of the relation between body and movement was lauded by Henry Moore.
The Clamdigger is searching in sand to extract the shells. His gesture gathers the symbols of creation: sea water, clay, primitive animal, man. It has even been suggested that the Clamdigger by de Kooning is a self-portrait. The texture mimics the lapping waves.
This sculpture 1.51 m high was edited in bronze in 1972 in seven copies plus three artist's proofs. On November 12, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 29.3M the artist's proof that de Kooning had installed at the entrance to his studio, lot 21. The statue had remained up to that sale with his descendants. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Made from a clay model and cast in 1974, two years after Clamdigger, the Large Torso taking the form of a sculpture from the Renaissance is an exception in the art of de Kooning. Nevertheless the details are abstract. For this artwork, the artist used gloves for a bolder 'action' gesture. Its size is 86 x 82 x 64 cm.The bronze 6/7 cast by the Modern Art Foundry New York was sold for $ 5.7M by Sotheby's on November 11, 2009, lot 14.
In 1980 de Kooning selected three of his 1969 sculptures for a bronze edition in monumental size. The Seated Woman 290 x 370 x 240 cm was made in seven units plus two artist's proofs. The 1/7 was sold for $ 8.2M by Christie's on May 12, 2022, lot 27C.
Clamdigger by de Kooning. Why did the artist shift from painting to sculpture ?
Willem de Kooning's "Clamdigger" (1972) is a bronze sculpture depicting a standing, primordial male figure with exaggerated extremities—such as oversized hands, feet, and genitalia—contrasted against slender arms and legs, and a small head that appears to sink into the body. The work evokes existential tension, drawing from modernist traditions like those of Auguste Rodin and Alberto Giacometti, while its dark, textured surface invites viewers to physically circle and explore its shifting forms. The title draws from de Kooning's observations of clam diggers working in the bright sunlight near his home in Springs, Long Island, reflecting the influence of his rural surroundings on his art during that period.
De Kooning's transition from painting to sculpture was largely accidental but represented a natural extension of his longstanding artistic concerns with the figure, space, and dynamic forms. In the summer of 1969, at age 65, he visited Rome and encountered an old friend, sculptor Herzl Emanuel, at a bronze foundry in Trastevere, who invited him to experiment with modeling clay. De Kooning was immediately drawn to the medium's slipperiness and malleability, which allowed for endless reworking and remolding—qualities he contrasted favorably with oil painting, where a canvas couldn't be fully reset after the first stroke. He reportedly said clay was "even better than oil" because "you can work and work on a painting but you can’t start over again with the canvas like it was before you put that first stroke down." During this trip, he created small clay figures, selecting 13 to be cast in bronze.
Back in New York, he was initially unenthusiastic about the results, but encouragement from British sculptor Henry Moore to enlarge them to monumental scale spurred him to continue, leading to larger works like "Clamdigger." This shift was also influenced by his exposure to the exuberant physicality of Baroque sculptures in Rome and his earlier move to Springs in the early 1960s, where the reflective waters and everyday activities around Long Island Sound inspired new explorations in three dimensions. Ultimately, sculpture allowed de Kooning to recapture the urgency and inventiveness of early Abstract Expressionism through physical engagement, sustaining his creative output into the 1970s despite his primary identity as a painter.
Suddenly in 1969, de Kooning decided to become a sculptor. He kneaded the clay with energy and passion, creating a turbulent texture reminiscent of Giacometti.
Again like Giacometti, de Kooning's world is dominated by the figures of a man and a woman. Giacometti had the Homme qui marche and the Femme debout. De Kooning had the Clamdigger and the Seated Woman. De Kooning's expression of the relation between body and movement was lauded by Henry Moore.
The Clamdigger is searching in sand to extract the shells. His gesture gathers the symbols of creation: sea water, clay, primitive animal, man. It has even been suggested that the Clamdigger by de Kooning is a self-portrait. The texture mimics the lapping waves.
This sculpture 1.51 m high was edited in bronze in 1972 in seven copies plus three artist's proofs. On November 12, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 29.3M the artist's proof that de Kooning had installed at the entrance to his studio, lot 21. The statue had remained up to that sale with his descendants. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Made from a clay model and cast in 1974, two years after Clamdigger, the Large Torso taking the form of a sculpture from the Renaissance is an exception in the art of de Kooning. Nevertheless the details are abstract. For this artwork, the artist used gloves for a bolder 'action' gesture. Its size is 86 x 82 x 64 cm.The bronze 6/7 cast by the Modern Art Foundry New York was sold for $ 5.7M by Sotheby's on November 11, 2009, lot 14.
In 1980 de Kooning selected three of his 1969 sculptures for a bronze edition in monumental size. The Seated Woman 290 x 370 x 240 cm was made in seven units plus two artist's proofs. The 1/7 was sold for $ 8.2M by Christie's on May 12, 2022, lot 27C.
Clamdigger by de Kooning. Why did the artist shift from painting to sculpture ?
Willem de Kooning's "Clamdigger" (1972) is a bronze sculpture depicting a standing, primordial male figure with exaggerated extremities—such as oversized hands, feet, and genitalia—contrasted against slender arms and legs, and a small head that appears to sink into the body. The work evokes existential tension, drawing from modernist traditions like those of Auguste Rodin and Alberto Giacometti, while its dark, textured surface invites viewers to physically circle and explore its shifting forms. The title draws from de Kooning's observations of clam diggers working in the bright sunlight near his home in Springs, Long Island, reflecting the influence of his rural surroundings on his art during that period.
De Kooning's transition from painting to sculpture was largely accidental but represented a natural extension of his longstanding artistic concerns with the figure, space, and dynamic forms. In the summer of 1969, at age 65, he visited Rome and encountered an old friend, sculptor Herzl Emanuel, at a bronze foundry in Trastevere, who invited him to experiment with modeling clay. De Kooning was immediately drawn to the medium's slipperiness and malleability, which allowed for endless reworking and remolding—qualities he contrasted favorably with oil painting, where a canvas couldn't be fully reset after the first stroke. He reportedly said clay was "even better than oil" because "you can work and work on a painting but you can’t start over again with the canvas like it was before you put that first stroke down." During this trip, he created small clay figures, selecting 13 to be cast in bronze.
Back in New York, he was initially unenthusiastic about the results, but encouragement from British sculptor Henry Moore to enlarge them to monumental scale spurred him to continue, leading to larger works like "Clamdigger." This shift was also influenced by his exposure to the exuberant physicality of Baroque sculptures in Rome and his earlier move to Springs in the early 1960s, where the reflective waters and everyday activities around Long Island Sound inspired new explorations in three dimensions. Ultimately, sculpture allowed de Kooning to recapture the urgency and inventiveness of early Abstract Expressionism through physical engagement, sustaining his creative output into the 1970s despite his primary identity as a painter.
1972 BACON
1
Figure in Movement
2018 SOLD for £ 20M by Christie's
George Dyer committed his irreparable act in October 1971. Although Francis Bacon's grief is deep and sincere, it is not devoid of selfishness. Francis is remorseful for his own behavioral mistakes towards the young man. Above all, this tragic event raises back to the surface with an unprecedented power his queries about the meaning of life.
The body and soul of the deceased are lost forever but the memory remains, threatened by oblivion. A triptych preserved at the Tate Gallery shows the man amputated of various organs before his collapse on the central panel.
Figure in Movement, oil on canvas 198 x 148 cm painted in 1972, was sold for £ 20M from a lower estimate of £ 15M by Christie's on October 4, 2018, lot 7.
George is seen from behind, nude, without amputation, standing contorted on the tip of a foot. The title is ambiguous : by nature a dead does not move. A cheek is pressed against a newspaper illustrated by Letraset that he does not look at, as if he was desperately trying to stay in a present that no longer concerns him.
The overall composition seems simple but it is actually populated with symbols, easier to describe than to interpret.
The empty room can be the studio of a photographer : the character is enclosed in a filiform cage, as for the staging of an ephemeral moment or for the preview of a framing. This idea had already been used by the artist, for example in the three images of the triptych portrait of Lucian Freud in 1969.
The present is actually impossible to capture. On the floor next to the cage, a page of the same newspaper is shredded.
The body is illuminated from above, casting a black shadow on the ground. In other artworks like the Study for Portrait painted in 1977, the shadow takes on the recognizable silhouette of Francis Bacon himself. The artist is thus associated in a dematerialized form with the deceased.
The painting is executed in a very thick impasto, almost a sculpture. By kneading his pigments, Bacon offers his only method to create something that is akin to life : his art.
The body and soul of the deceased are lost forever but the memory remains, threatened by oblivion. A triptych preserved at the Tate Gallery shows the man amputated of various organs before his collapse on the central panel.
Figure in Movement, oil on canvas 198 x 148 cm painted in 1972, was sold for £ 20M from a lower estimate of £ 15M by Christie's on October 4, 2018, lot 7.
George is seen from behind, nude, without amputation, standing contorted on the tip of a foot. The title is ambiguous : by nature a dead does not move. A cheek is pressed against a newspaper illustrated by Letraset that he does not look at, as if he was desperately trying to stay in a present that no longer concerns him.
The overall composition seems simple but it is actually populated with symbols, easier to describe than to interpret.
The empty room can be the studio of a photographer : the character is enclosed in a filiform cage, as for the staging of an ephemeral moment or for the preview of a framing. This idea had already been used by the artist, for example in the three images of the triptych portrait of Lucian Freud in 1969.
The present is actually impossible to capture. On the floor next to the cage, a page of the same newspaper is shredded.
The body is illuminated from above, casting a black shadow on the ground. In other artworks like the Study for Portrait painted in 1977, the shadow takes on the recognizable silhouette of Francis Bacon himself. The artist is thus associated in a dematerialized form with the deceased.
The painting is executed in a very thick impasto, almost a sculpture. By kneading his pigments, Bacon offers his only method to create something that is akin to life : his art.
2
Self Portrait
2026 SOLD for £ 16M by Sotheby's
A 1972 self portrait by Bacon, was sold for £ 16M from a lower estimate of £ 8M for sale by Sotheby's on March 4, 2026, lot 17.
Compare to the self portrait triptychs of the 1970s.
The 1972 Self-Portrait by Francis Bacon, sold for £ 16M at lot 17 in Sotheby's Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction (March 4, 2026, with an estimate of £8,000,000–£12,000,000), is a small-scale, single-canvas oil painting (36 by 30.5 cm). Executed in the immediate aftermath of George Dyer's suicide in 1971, it stands out as the only known self-portrait from that specific year to appear at auction. Bacon gifted it to his doctor, Paul Brass (who supported him through personal crises), and it later passed through Sotheby's in 1994 before entering the Lewis Collection. It has been exhibited widely, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1975) and recently at the National Portrait Gallery (2024–2025).
This work captures Bacon in a period of profound psychological turmoil and physical wandering after Dyer's death, compounded by the loss of photographer John Deakin in 1972, which cut off his supply of Soho-inspired source images. Turning inward to the mirror as a substitute for external models, Bacon confronts mortality directly: the face is distorted with violent colors, smeared features, and a sense of screaming grief that engulfs the figure. Descriptions emphasize its emotional charge—Bacon transformed by sorrow, with the scream dominating the human form—reflecting intensified self-destructive tendencies and morbid introspection. Unlike his typical source-driven portraits, this single, intimate canvas feels raw and unfiltered, a direct embodiment of grief rather than a stylized sequence.
In contrast, Bacon's self-portrait triptychs from the mid-to-late 1970s (post-1972) expand on these themes through a multi-panel format, creating sequences that evoke motion, time, and psychological fragmentation. These standardized head-focused triptychs (each panel typically ~35 x 30 cm) draw on photo-booth-style images for a Muybridge-like sense of serial movement, police-like mugshot repetition, or illusory depth via angled views and distortions. The three panels allow Bacon to depict evolving states of the same face—often with aging marks, half-closed or vague eyes, closed eyes (suggesting avoidance or introspection), vivid flesh tones slashed with crimson/red, and intense backgrounds (e.g., blazing orange)—to convey decay, desolation, and the illusion of tridimensionality or kinetic change.
Examples from the late 1970s period include:
Compare to the self portrait triptychs of the 1970s.
The 1972 Self-Portrait by Francis Bacon, sold for £ 16M at lot 17 in Sotheby's Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction (March 4, 2026, with an estimate of £8,000,000–£12,000,000), is a small-scale, single-canvas oil painting (36 by 30.5 cm). Executed in the immediate aftermath of George Dyer's suicide in 1971, it stands out as the only known self-portrait from that specific year to appear at auction. Bacon gifted it to his doctor, Paul Brass (who supported him through personal crises), and it later passed through Sotheby's in 1994 before entering the Lewis Collection. It has been exhibited widely, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1975) and recently at the National Portrait Gallery (2024–2025).
This work captures Bacon in a period of profound psychological turmoil and physical wandering after Dyer's death, compounded by the loss of photographer John Deakin in 1972, which cut off his supply of Soho-inspired source images. Turning inward to the mirror as a substitute for external models, Bacon confronts mortality directly: the face is distorted with violent colors, smeared features, and a sense of screaming grief that engulfs the figure. Descriptions emphasize its emotional charge—Bacon transformed by sorrow, with the scream dominating the human form—reflecting intensified self-destructive tendencies and morbid introspection. Unlike his typical source-driven portraits, this single, intimate canvas feels raw and unfiltered, a direct embodiment of grief rather than a stylized sequence.
In contrast, Bacon's self-portrait triptychs from the mid-to-late 1970s (post-1972) expand on these themes through a multi-panel format, creating sequences that evoke motion, time, and psychological fragmentation. These standardized head-focused triptychs (each panel typically ~35 x 30 cm) draw on photo-booth-style images for a Muybridge-like sense of serial movement, police-like mugshot repetition, or illusory depth via angled views and distortions. The three panels allow Bacon to depict evolving states of the same face—often with aging marks, half-closed or vague eyes, closed eyes (suggesting avoidance or introspection), vivid flesh tones slashed with crimson/red, and intense backgrounds (e.g., blazing orange)—to convey decay, desolation, and the illusion of tridimensionality or kinetic change.
Examples from the late 1970s period include:
- Three Studies for a Self Portrait (1979, orange background): Aging patches in pink/blue over pale flesh, deep creases, downward gaze projecting future ruin and desolation.
- Study for Self Portrait (1976, half-closed eyes): Kinetic distortions, including a floating medical lens and damaged eye, emphasizing vulnerability.
- Study for Self Portrait (1975, vague eyes): Ambiguous, introspective gaze amid aging.
- Three Studies for Self Portrait (1974, closed eyes): Symbolic avoidance of self-confrontation in the wake of loss.
1972 Boccioni's Man (posthumous)
2019 SOLD for $ 16.2M by Christie's
Marinetti creates the Manifesto del Futurismo in 1909. His strategy is to shock, for stopping the weakening of Italian culture and for creating new literary forms adapted to the modern civilization of speed and violence. The past must be forgotten.
In the following year, a group of young artists publishes another manifesto to apply these new ideas to painting. Umberto Boccioni is the theoretician of the group. Perhaps he appreciates that the expression of movement through painting is too difficult for the public. The centipede dog created by Balla in 1912 is a bit ridiculous.
Without neglecting the Futurist painting, Boccioni is now interested in sculpture, which he had never practiced before. He publishes solo in April 1912 a Manifesto tecnico della scultura futurista. He is also inspired by the Cubist fragmentations by Picasso and Duchamp-Villon.
Boccioni makes in 1913 three studies in plaster in which the movement is illustrated by a muscular extension. He then creates a man on the move which is a synthesis of his theories. For marking how much his approach is an incentive for a new art, he titles this figure Forme uniche della continuita nello spazio.
The Forme uniche has remained the only important sculpture by Boccioni, the artist who went too fast, died trampled by a horse in 1916. It expresses an extreme human energy while abandoning realism, and opens the way to Giacometti, Moore and also to the successive transformations of Matisse's Nu de dos and the humanoid robots of the movies. It was chosen in 1998 to illustrate the Italian coin of 20 cents of euro.
The four seminal sculptures by Boccioni were not edited during his lifetime. The first three were destroyed in 1927. The Forme uniche survived. Two bronzes were created in 1931. One of them brings a refinement, a pedestal under each foot, which still increases the extreme dynamism of the figure. This configuration was cast in ten units in 1972.
A 117 cm high bronze with a gold patina from the 1972 edition was sold for $ 16.2M from a lower estimate of $ 3.8M by Christie's on November 11, 2019, lot 18 A. Despite its importance in the history of modern sculpture, this figure is extremely rare on the art market : no example had been offered at auction since 1975. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In the following year, a group of young artists publishes another manifesto to apply these new ideas to painting. Umberto Boccioni is the theoretician of the group. Perhaps he appreciates that the expression of movement through painting is too difficult for the public. The centipede dog created by Balla in 1912 is a bit ridiculous.
Without neglecting the Futurist painting, Boccioni is now interested in sculpture, which he had never practiced before. He publishes solo in April 1912 a Manifesto tecnico della scultura futurista. He is also inspired by the Cubist fragmentations by Picasso and Duchamp-Villon.
Boccioni makes in 1913 three studies in plaster in which the movement is illustrated by a muscular extension. He then creates a man on the move which is a synthesis of his theories. For marking how much his approach is an incentive for a new art, he titles this figure Forme uniche della continuita nello spazio.
The Forme uniche has remained the only important sculpture by Boccioni, the artist who went too fast, died trampled by a horse in 1916. It expresses an extreme human energy while abandoning realism, and opens the way to Giacometti, Moore and also to the successive transformations of Matisse's Nu de dos and the humanoid robots of the movies. It was chosen in 1998 to illustrate the Italian coin of 20 cents of euro.
The four seminal sculptures by Boccioni were not edited during his lifetime. The first three were destroyed in 1927. The Forme uniche survived. Two bronzes were created in 1931. One of them brings a refinement, a pedestal under each foot, which still increases the extreme dynamism of the figure. This configuration was cast in ten units in 1972.
A 117 cm high bronze with a gold patina from the 1972 edition was sold for $ 16.2M from a lower estimate of $ 3.8M by Christie's on November 11, 2019, lot 18 A. Despite its importance in the history of modern sculpture, this figure is extremely rare on the art market : no example had been offered at auction since 1975. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1972 The Bulgari Blue
2010 SOLD for $ 15.7M by Christie's
The story begins in 1972 with a gift worth $ 1M offered by a man to his wife to celebrate the birth of their first baby. On the principle of the Toi et moi, it is a ring with two diamonds.
One of them, weighing 10.95 carats, is blue, in the prestigious certified Fancy Vivid Blue color. The other is colorless, weighing 9.87 carats. These two triangular diamonds were arranged symmetrically on both sides of the ring by Bulgari in Rome.
Christie's sold this composite jewel for $ 15.7M on October 20, 2010.
In May 2010, a Toi et moi ring consisting of a blue diamond of 5.02 carats and a colorless diamond of 5.42 carats was sold for CHF 7M by Sotheby's.
The Bulgari Blue (also stylized as Bvlgari Blue or The BVLGARI Blue) refers to a famous two-stone diamond ring created by the Italian luxury jeweler Bulgari (Bvlgari) around 1972. It features a prominent triangular-cut fancy vivid blue diamond weighing approximately 10.95 carats (paired with a 9.87-carat triangular colorless diamond graded G color, VS1 clarity, potentially internally flawless), set in a gold mount with baguette-cut diamond accents on the half-hoop band.
Key Details and History
One of them, weighing 10.95 carats, is blue, in the prestigious certified Fancy Vivid Blue color. The other is colorless, weighing 9.87 carats. These two triangular diamonds were arranged symmetrically on both sides of the ring by Bulgari in Rome.
Christie's sold this composite jewel for $ 15.7M on October 20, 2010.
In May 2010, a Toi et moi ring consisting of a blue diamond of 5.02 carats and a colorless diamond of 5.42 carats was sold for CHF 7M by Sotheby's.
The Bulgari Blue (also stylized as Bvlgari Blue or The BVLGARI Blue) refers to a famous two-stone diamond ring created by the Italian luxury jeweler Bulgari (Bvlgari) around 1972. It features a prominent triangular-cut fancy vivid blue diamond weighing approximately 10.95 carats (paired with a 9.87-carat triangular colorless diamond graded G color, VS1 clarity, potentially internally flawless), set in a gold mount with baguette-cut diamond accents on the half-hoop band.
Key Details and History
- Creation and Early Ownership — The ring was designed and sold by Bulgari in Rome circa 1972 (some sources note the purchase year as 1972, with mounting possibly from the early 1970s). It was acquired directly from Bulgari's flagship boutique on Via dei Condotti for about $1 million (equivalent to roughly $5–6 million in today's dollars, adjusted for inflation). The buyer was a private European businessman/collector who purchased it as a special gift (reportedly for his wife following the birth of their son). It remained in the same private family collection for nearly 40 years, rarely seen publicly.
- Gemological Credentials — In 2010, the blue diamond was submitted to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), receiving report #2125168496 (dated May 19, 2010), confirming it as fancy vivid blue, natural color, VS2 clarity. This is one of the top grades for blue diamonds, owing to trace boron impurities that create the intense, electric blue hue. The colorless companion diamond received its own GIA report. Christie's prepared a detailed two-volume monograph on its rarity and prestige.
- 2010 Auction at Christie's — The ring debuted at public auction as a highlight of Christie's "Jewels: The New York Sale" on October 20, 2010. Marketed as The BVLGARI Blue, it was described as the largest triangular-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond ever offered at auction at the time. It achieved a world-record price for a blue diamond (both overall and per carat), selling for $15,762,500 (including buyer's premium) after intense bidding (primarily between phone bidders, with an Asian collector winning after about five minutes of $500,000 increments). This equated to roughly $1.4 million per carat for the blue stone alone, setting benchmarks in the colored diamond market.
- Post-2010 History — After the 2010 sale, the ring entered private hands (the anonymous Asian buyer). There are no widely reported public resales, exhibitions, or further auctions of this specific 10.95-carat triangular-cut Bulgari Blue piece since then. It remains one of the most celebrated fancy vivid blue diamonds from the modern era.
- The Bulgari Laguna Blu (or Laguna Blue) is a separate, larger 11.16-carat pear-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond (also GIA-graded at the highest level for blue), originally mounted as a ring by Bulgari in 1970 for a private client. It stayed in the same family until auctioned at Sotheby's Geneva in May 2023 for over $25 million (a record for Bulgari-sold gems).
- Other Bulgari blue diamond jewels (e.g., an 8-carat fancy vivid blue ring sold at Christie's in 2018 for $18.3 million) exist but are distinct.
1972 Ferrari 312 PB
2023 SOLD for € 12M by RM Sotheby's
The reference 312, applied to a 3 liter 12 cylinder car, is created by Ferrari in 1966 after the FIA regulations authorized an engine of that volume in Formula one.
The acquisition of Ferrari by Fiat in 1969 re-triggered an interest of the brand in sports cars. The 312P is released in that year for competing in the Group 6 Prototype Sports classification. The change of the engine to a flat V 12 in 1971 does not change the reference at the brand but this car is commonly designated as 312 PB.
The 312 P(B) was redesigned for the 1972 season after the FIA united Groups 5 and 6 including raising the minimum weight from the previous classification. The 312 P(B)'s engine has many similarities in design to the F1 engine, but nearly every part is non-interchangeable with the F1 flat 12.
Used as a works car in 1972 by the Scuderia Ferrari, one of them achieved a podium overall in its four outings, each time with Ronnie Peterson and Tim Schenken : 1st at the 1000 km Buenos Aires, 2nd at the 12 hours Sebring, 3rd at the 1000 km Monza and 1st at the 1000 km Nürburgring. It was retired afterwards.
Accompanied with many spare parts including its original engine, it was sold for € 12M by RM Sotheby's on May 20, 2023, lot 140.
Its achievements contributed to Ferrari's win in the 1972 World Sports Car Championship of Makes. In 1973 its competitiveness was not sufficient against Matra. Ferrari abandoned the sports car racing after that season. The model 312 P(B) as redesigned for 1972 had no successor until 1993 with the 333 SP. Porsche had not followed the changes of the FIA rules.
The image shared by Wikimedia was taken in 2007 at the LM Story event at Le Mans. It is credited with attribution ZANTAFIO56 from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
The acquisition of Ferrari by Fiat in 1969 re-triggered an interest of the brand in sports cars. The 312P is released in that year for competing in the Group 6 Prototype Sports classification. The change of the engine to a flat V 12 in 1971 does not change the reference at the brand but this car is commonly designated as 312 PB.
The 312 P(B) was redesigned for the 1972 season after the FIA united Groups 5 and 6 including raising the minimum weight from the previous classification. The 312 P(B)'s engine has many similarities in design to the F1 engine, but nearly every part is non-interchangeable with the F1 flat 12.
Used as a works car in 1972 by the Scuderia Ferrari, one of them achieved a podium overall in its four outings, each time with Ronnie Peterson and Tim Schenken : 1st at the 1000 km Buenos Aires, 2nd at the 12 hours Sebring, 3rd at the 1000 km Monza and 1st at the 1000 km Nürburgring. It was retired afterwards.
Accompanied with many spare parts including its original engine, it was sold for € 12M by RM Sotheby's on May 20, 2023, lot 140.
Its achievements contributed to Ferrari's win in the 1972 World Sports Car Championship of Makes. In 1973 its competitiveness was not sufficient against Matra. Ferrari abandoned the sports car racing after that season. The model 312 P(B) as redesigned for 1972 had no successor until 1993 with the 333 SP. Porsche had not followed the changes of the FIA rules.
The image shared by Wikimedia was taken in 2007 at the LM Story event at Le Mans. It is credited with attribution ZANTAFIO56 from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
