After art insiders insisted Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was not the mystery buyer who snapped up a Francis Bacon triptych painting for a record-smashing $142.4 million last week, rumors have been rife that it may have gone to casino magnate and avid art collector Steve Wynn.
Numerous sources in New York and on the international art circuit are whispering that it was Wynn who snapped up the work at Christie’s postwar and contemporary art sale, when Acquavella Galleries bought it on behalf of a high-flying client. After all, Wynn has some cash to spare: Page Six exclusively revealed in March that embattled billionaire hedge fund manager Steven Cohen bought Picasso’s “Le Rêve” from Wynn for $155 million.
But a spokeswoman for Wynn told Page Six, “I can confirm that Mr. Wynn did not purchase the Bacon.”
Acquavella’s gallery has been incredibly tight-lipped about the acquisition of “Three Studies of Lucian Freud.” Rival dealer Larry Gagosian has said he went as high as $101 million in the six-way bidding war.