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Bacon told me to take 'junk' on his studio floor. Now it's worth £500,000
Last updated at 09:07am on 21.03.07When Mac Robertson saw Francis Bacon dumping rubbish into a skip, he persuaded the artist to let him keep some of the junk.
The electrician was working at Bacon's studio when the painter started to throw out the unwanted clutter.
Mr Robertson packed the items into his car boot and put them safely away when he got home.
Almost 30 years on, the artist's one-time scrap could earn him as much as £500,000 when it is auctioned next month.
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The unwanted clutter inside the studio of artist Francis Bacon could fetch at least £500,000 under the hammer next week
"I was in the right place at the right time," said Mr Robertson, 75.
"I had no idea that the bits and bobs Bacon was about to throw away might one day be worth a fortune."
The collection includes mutilated paintings, diaries, letters, cheques and photographs.
Four journals, including a brown leather pocket diary with a gold Playboy motif, chart Bacon's activities between 1966 and 1971.
Art aficionados will be fascinated by entries detailing when Bacon planned to start or finish paintings.
Another entry dated October 24, 1971, refers to the suicide of Bacon's lover, George Dyer, and simply says: "George died in Paris".
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For sale: Bacon's Three Studies Of The Human Body (1970)
Of the paintings up for sale, there are three oil portraits, one of which is believed to be of fellow artist Lucian Freud.
There are three paintings of dogs, a paint-spattered canvas bearing notes in Bacon's hand, and four mutilated portraits with their faces crudely cut out.
Bacon, who died in 1992, was famous for his volatile temper and self-editing, and he destroyed a large part of his work. He thought the discarded material was of little importance. But auctioneers say collectors will think otherwise.
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One of Bacon's four mutilated portraits in the auction
Chris Ewbank, of Surrey-based Ewbanks auctioneers, said: "Francis Bacon is a big name in the art world and his major works sell for millions.
"When is there going to be another chance for collectors to get their hands on material like this? The answer is, probably never."
Mr Robertson first met Bacon, then 69, in 1978 when he agreed to install a heating system in his studio in Kensington, West London.
The two became friends while the work was being done and often had a drink together at Bacon's local, the Zetland Arms.
Bacon was angry that workmen had been trampling over a pile of junk in his flat. He decided to throw it all out in a fit of petulance.
Mr Robertson managed to calm the painter down and persuaded him to let him take some of the rubbish home.
Other lots include unused cheques and cheque stubs showing where Bacon used to like spending money, such as the nightspot Annabel's.
The first passport and national registration identity card of another of Bacon's lovers, Peter Lacy; unseen photographs of Bacon with Lacy at a pavement cafe in Paris and at the top of the Eiffel Tower; and a collection of letters are also included.
Among the correspondence was a hand-written copy of a note to the Pace Gallery in New York, expressing his desire to stay with the city's Marlborough Gallery.
The original was later used as evidence in a court case to show Bacon as happy with Marlborough, which had been accused of defrauding him.
• The auction will be held at Ewbank in Send, Surrey, on 24 April at 7pm.
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