LACMA announced today that Francis Bacon’s triptych Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969) has been gifted to the museum as a bequest of the late philanthropist and co-chair of LACMA’s board of trustees, Elaine Wynn. The first work by Bacon to enter LACMA’s collection, Three Studies of Lucian Freud is the only painting by Bacon in a Los Angeles public collection, as well as the only triptych by the artist in a California public collection.
“Elaine was among the most generous and supportive leaders in LACMA’s entire history,” said Michael Govan, LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director. “She was our biggest champion, and was as passionate about accessibility to art as she was about works of art. Thanks to Elaine’s incredible generosity, Bacon’s masterpiece will belong to LACMA and the public.”
One of the most important and celebrated painters of the last century, Irish-born British figurative painter Francis Bacon (1909–1992) was known for his strident, distorted images of crucifixions, self-portraits, portraits of popes, and of a few close friends. Bacon and British painter Lucian Freud were intimate friends and artistic rivals for a quarter of a century, and Three Studies of Lucian Freud is a towering life-size portrait of Freud, painted in Bacon’s celebrated triptych format at the height of their relationship. One of two triptychs Bacon painted of his fellow artist, Three Studies of Lucian Freud was exhibited shortly after it was completed, and then the panels were separated for 15 years, only to be reunited in 1999. The painting has not been seen publicly since being acquired by Wynn in 2013.
The triptych will be included in the inaugural installation of the David Geffen Galleries, LACMA’s home for the permanent collection, that is anticipated to open to the public in April 2026. The entire northern half of the building will be named the Elaine Wynn Wing in recognition of Wynn’s generosity and leadership—a legacy extended by this latest extraordinary gift to LACMA’s collection.