Bacon nude has Laois connection

A notorious London model who later became 'caretaker' of Roundwood House in Mountrath is the subject of a Francis Bacon painting on the market, writes MICHAEL PARSONS

A PAINTING by Irish-born artist Francis Bacon of a woman who once lived in Co Laois is expected to sell for more than €20 million when it goes under the hammer in London next month.

Christie's has announced that the Portrait of Henrietta Moraes will be auctioned on St Valentine's Day, February 14th.

The large painting, measuring 65 by 56 inches, dates from 1963. Henrietta Moraes was a British artists' model whom Bacon painted on a number of occasions.

She was a well-known bohemian character in London during the swinging 1960s who mixed with artists and Soho society but she died, poverty stricken, in a council flat in Chelsea, in 1999 aged 63.

Her eventful life included three dissolved marriages, a spell as a cat burglar which landed her in Holloway Prison, a stint as secretary to singer Marianne Faithfull, a long sojourn in Ireland and nude modelling for artists.

An obituary in the Guardian described her as "foul-mouthed, amoral, a thief, a violent drunkard and a drug addict" but also as a "witty, wonderfully warm and lovable" person who had "enjoyed life in Ireland, where there were young, upper-class addicts in ramshackle mansions". Who knew?

Henrietta Moraes lived in Ireland during the late 1970s and early 1980s when she was the "caretaker" of Roundwood House, Mountrath, Co Laois. Roundwood was then owned by the Irish Georgian Society but is now a privately-owned guesthouse.

Among friends who joined her there was rock star Eric Burdon (founder of The Animals) who recorded an album Darkness, Darkness at Roundwood in May 1978.

Christie's described the "sexually charged" painting as Francis Bacon's "most seductive female portrait" while acknowledging the artist's "lack of personal erotic interest in naked females".

The painting, which is being auctioned for the first time, has not been seen in public for 15 years. Christie's said the estimate was "upon request" but it is understood that the reserve is £18 million (€21.53m).

Francis Bacon (1909-1992) was born in Dublin, spent his childhood in Kildare and lived and worked in London. His work is the most expensive of all Irish-born artists and he is one of the world's most expensive artists. The highest price achieved for one of his paintings took place four years ago at Sotheby's in New York when his Triptych, 1976 sold for $86.3 million (€55.6m). The buyer is believed to have been Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

"An obituary in the 'Guardian' described her as 'foul-mouthed, amoral, a thief, a violent drunkard and a drug addict' . . . who had 'enjoyed life in Ireland, where there were young, upper- class addicts in ramshackle mansions'