An IPO for a Painting? This $55 Million Masterpiece Is Going Public

A portrait by British painter Francis Bacon will be publicly listed this summer, even as rising interest rates blur the case for investing in art

Christie’s employees adjust Francis Bacon’s ‘Three Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer’ in 2017. Shares of the artwork will soon be sold in an initial public offering. Frank Augstein/Associated Press

What would the late painter Francis Bacon make of it all? A portrait of his lover is about to make its stock-market debut, giving the average Joe access to the rarefied world of serious art collecting. 

One catch is that the megarich may have enjoyed the best spoils already.

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