 |  | | | Valerie Beston | 4 Feb 2006 | | |
Why was she so important to artist, Francis Bacon?
On 8 February, an extraordinary picture will go under the hammer at Christie's auction house - a small and seldom-seen self-portrait by Francis Bacon, valued at £1.8 million. It was given to and dedicated to 'V'.
'V' was Valerie Beston - called by Bacon 'Miss B', or 'Valerie at the Gallery'. She was a prim, proper and fiercely private gallery administrator who quietly controlled the creative chaos surrounding artists such as Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud and Henry Moore. Her unlikely friendship with Bacon lasted for more than 30 years. So why was she so important to him?
Art critic Charles Darwent, who's writing a book about Valerie Beston, takes a closer look.
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