NEW YORK, NY.- On the evening of November 14, 2007, Sotheby’s sale of Contemporary Art in New York will feature two important paintings by Francis Bacon, Second Version of Study for Bullfight No. 1, and Self Portrait, among other works by artists such as Jeff Koons, Mark Rothko, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Donald Judd and Ad Reinhardt, among others. Both works by Bacon will be offered from a European Private Collection, where they have been for a number of decades. Executed in 1969, Second Version of Study for Bullfight No. 1, 1969, comes from a series of three paintings depicting the subject. The present canvas is estimated to sell for in excess of $35 million (estimates do not include buyer’s premium). From the same year, Bacon’s Self Portrait, painted when he was 60, is estimated to sell for more than $15 million. The offering of these paintings follows the success of last season’s sale of Bacon’s Study for Innocent X, 1962, which sold at Sotheby’s New York for $52.7 million, a record for the artist at auction, and his Self Portrait, 1978, which sold at Sotheby’s London for $43 million, the second highest price achieved for a work by the artist.

Of these works, Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art, said: “Second Version of Study for Bullfight No. 1 is an extraordinary painting symbolizing Bacon wrestling with artistic desire. Here, he is battling the demons that occupy his violent subconscious, and in Self Portrait he struggles with these same issues of identity. Both masterpieces explore the same conflicts but with different outcomes.”

Second Version of Study for Bullfight No. 1 is one of three paintings of this subject that Bacon completed while he was using studio space at the Royal College of Art in London in 1969 and was acquired from Galerie Beyeler in 1987. Study for Bullfight No. 2 is in the collection of the Musée des Beaux Arts de Lyon in France. As a contest of combatants, Second Version of Study for Bullfight No. 1 is similar to other works by Bacon from the late 1960s in which contorted pairs of figures grapple together on a bed or platform, evoking simultaneously the rigors of lovemaking and wrestling. In 1987, Bacon described the drama of bullfighting as “about death in the sunlight’’ and “like boxing – a marvelous aperitif of sex.” The curvature of the background, which acts as an arena or backdrop that creates and echoes the centrifugal force of the composition, was a common device in Bacon’s work at this time. In the two other versions of similar title, Bacon included figures within and behind a vertical plinth at the edge of the bullring. In Second Version of Study for Bullfight No. 1, this form is blank and seemingly blocks the view of the figures in the stands, ultimately taking on the character of the mirror device frequently used by Bacon in full-figure portrait paintings. In this case, the bull and the human are isolated as the only actors on the stage. Rendered in similar palette colors, they seem to meld into one entity, effectively transformed into an intimate portrait of internal conflict.

This self-reflective theme is more dramatically evident in Self-Portrait, also painted in 1969, and was acquired from the 1975 solo exhibition of Bacon’s work at his main gallery, Marlborough Fine Art in London. Like Rembrandt, whom he cited among the masters he most admired, Bacon painted self-portraits throughout his life, beginning in 1956 and increasingly in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Arguably the consummate practitioners of the genre, both Rembrandt and Bacon are master manipulators of psychological acuity and the expressive qualities of paint. Although Bacon disingenuously feigned nonchalance in choosing to paint himself, the extraordinary range and virtuosic paint handling in images such as the present Self-Portrait contradict such detachment. The sinuous paint and vibrant color of the self-portraits, as with the shifting phases of life, conveyed everything from the existential angst and demons of the creative mind to the more contemplative periods of Bacon’s life. Painted against a velvety dark blue background, the artist’s soulful and troubled eyes in Self-Portrait dominate the work and capture our gaze, while the swirls of textured paint deconstruct the flesh to reveal the inner structure of bone and sinew. While often acknowledging the self-love inherent in self-portraits, Bacon also alluded to the more solemn aspects of the genre when he spoke of Jean Cocteau’s quote, ‘Each day in the mirror I watch death at work.’

The cover lot of the sale is Jeff Koons’ spectacular Hanging Heart (Magenta and Gold), 1994-2006, one of the most important works by Koons ever offered at auction, from his famed Celebration series (est. $15/20 million). The dazzling work will be offered from a Private American Collection. Of this work, Meyer commented: “Koons’ Hanging Heart is a stainless steel monument from a body of work so rare, so surreal and so beautiful that one almost ceases to believe it exists. Executing this work required extraordinary precision, finesse and lavish attention to achieve such perfection of the highest order. Koons is an artist who doesn’t allow compromise, and Hanging Heart is all about making an impossibility possible.” The brilliant magenta heart and gold undulating bow, which took ten years from conception to completion, is one of five uniquely colored versions. The monumental heart’s perfect surface is coated in more than ten layers of paint. Executed in high chromium stainless steel, Hanging Heart weighs over 3,500 pounds, is almost nine feet tall and took over 6,000 man hours to produce. Hanging Heart is part of the Celebration series, comprised of four major iconic themes inspired by singular celebratory milestones in life such as birthdays and anniversaries. While these themes -- the balloon dog, balloon flower, moon and hanging heart -- depict seemingly childlike symbols, his robust work exudes physicality and sexuality. Hanging Heart appears to float in space and hangs only 16” above floor level from a structural beam, drawing the eye to the curvature of its powerful and immense center.

Another cornerstone of the sale is Mark Rothko’s Untitled work from 1969. Rothko’s dark paintings of 1969-70 unveil mystical qualities, and he regarded these works – ultimately his culminating series – as his “most profound.” Among the group, Untitled is a particularly superb example, a maximum expression of reductive means. In this elegant, theatrical and intense work, the wispy grey and velvety black portions fill the picture plane, maintaining a sense of the vertical stacking of Rothko’s earlier color forms, but eliminating any implicit spatial structure of ground versus object. Instead, the pure white edges act as a window into another unknown world or dimension, providing the vibrant counterpoint to the luminescent veils of pigment, stretched across the picture plane. The atmospheric depths of Untitled pull the viewer irresistibly into the painting more effectively than the more opaque and outwardly glowing works with their figure/ground compositions. It is estimated to bring $12/18 million. Another Untitled work by Rothko in the sale from 1968, oil on paper mounted on linen, will also be on offer from the Collection of Harriet Walker Henderson (est. $3.5/4.5 million).

Ad Reinhardt’s Abstract Painting, Blue, 1950-51, a monumental abstraction, is being offered by a New York Estate who acquired the work directly from the artist after its completion (est. $3/4 million).