It is a premiere of a particular kind: Francis Bacon's triptych 1986-7 will be offered at auction for the first time. The artwork's estimated value is £35,000,000-55,000,000, and it will be on view at Rockefeller Center from February 10-15. The auction house Christie's has announced the event for March 1.

For Katharine Arnold, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie's Europe, Francis Bacon is unmistakable "one of the greatest painters of the 20th century." Bacon's ability to "translate the full gambit of our emotions," she says, is "perfectly encapsulated in this masterpiece, Triptych 1986-7."