There were also some HC and artist's proofs made.
Published by Galerie Lelong, Paris
The prototype for this was a diptych in oil, pastel and dry transfer lettering, on canvas made in 1982. The work is now in Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Since his death Bacon’s reputation and market value have grown steadily, and his work is among the most acclaimed, expensive and sought-after.
This work is dedicated to John Edwards (as per Christie's cataloguing.) John Edwards was Francis Bacon's closest friend for 18 years, and inherited the artist's £11 million estate. There were those who considered it a curious friendship. Although both men were homosexuals, Edwards maintained that they were never lovers. Furthermore, Edwards had never learned to read or write, and knew nothing of art or books. None of this, however, appeared to matter to Bacon. "I think he felt very free with me, because I was a bit different from most people he knew," Edwards once said. "I wasn't asking him about his painting or anything like that . . . I asked him once, 'what do you see in me?' And he laughed and said, 'You're not boring like most people'."