本周二晚，出生于爱尔兰的英国画家弗朗西斯?培根(Francis Bacon)创作于1969年的三联画以1.424亿美元的价格成交，刷新了艺术品的拍卖纪录。此前创下纪录的是爱德华?蒙克(Edvard Munch)的《尖叫》(The Scream)，去年售得1.2亿美元。
A 1969 triptych by the Anglo-Irish artist Francis Bacon sold for $142.4m on Tuesday night, smashing the record for an artwork sold at auction – the $120m paid last year for Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”.
在佳士得(Christie's)纽约拍卖会上，培根的《弗洛伊德肖像画习作》(Three Studies of Lucian Freud)是第8A号拍品，起拍价为8000万美元。令观众大为吃惊的是，价格叫到1亿美元时，仍有7位有心购买的收藏家竞相提高报价。
Bidding for Lot 8A – “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” – began at $80m, and still had seven prospective collectors vying for a sale when offers reached $100m, to the awe of the crowd that had assembled at Christie’s in New York.
最终，来自纽约的艺术品交易商威廉?亚克维拉(William Acquavella)，代表一位未透露姓名的外国客户买下了这三幅帆布油画。
William Acquavella, the New York dealer, eventually bought the three oil-on-canvas panels on the behalf of an unidentified foreign customer.
两位失望的竞拍者，包括亚克维拉的对手、艺术品交易商拉里?高古轩(Larry Gagosian)，匆匆地离开了拥挤的拍卖厅。
Two disappointed bidders, including rival art dealer Larry Gagosian, promptly left the packed room.
拍卖锤在价格叫到1.27亿美元时落下。《弗洛伊德肖像画习作》此前从未拿出来拍卖，画中人物为培根的朋友兼对手卢西安?弗洛伊德(Lucian Freud)。对于1亿美元以上的成交艺术品，通常另付12%的溢价，使最终总成交价达到1.424亿美元。
The hammer came down at $127m for the paintings, which have never before been offered at auction and depict Lucian Freud, Bacon’s friend and rival, sitting on a wooden chair. The bidder’s premium, traditionally 12 per cent on works over $1m, brought the aggregate price to $142.4m.