A major Francis Bacon painting from 1968 has been on display in a British public gallery for the first time as part of new room in the British Art Displays at Tate Britain, supported by BP (British Petroleum).
Two Figures Lying on a Bed with Attendants 1968 has been generously lent by the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in whose collection it has been since the 1970s.
The triptych is included in a display which explores the powerful visceral quality of Bacon’s work and includes some iconic paintings from the Tate Collection including another celebrated triptych, his Three Studies for Figures at the Base of the Crucifixion 1944.
In autumn 2004 the work will return to the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, where it will form part of a new public display.
It was bought by the last Shah of Iran and was destined to be exhibited in his wife's museum in the city.
But the 1979 Iranian revolution resulted in the painting being put into storage as it was deemed indecent.
British Persian Media's Interview with the director of Tate Britain
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