Who’s Got $142 Million to Spend on Art?

Elaine Wynn, that’s who. Steve Wynn’s extravagant ex thought nothing of dropping a small fortune for a painting by 19th century artist Francis Bacon.

It’s good to be the former Mrs. Steve Wynn. Elaine Wynn, co-founder of the Wynn Casino empire and an art lover with very deep pockets, bought Francis Bacon’s triptych “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” for 2.4 million at a Christie’s auction in November, the New York Times reported.

For months, the art world wondered who would walk away with the painting, which Christie’s originally thought would bring about  $85 million. Four other bidders tried to buy the triptych, the Times reported, but were handily outbid by Wynn, whose estimated net worth is $1.9 billion, according to a 2013 report in Forbes.

Over the years the Wynns, who divorced in 2010, have shared their love of art with the casino-going public, opening galleries in some of their gaming halls and displaying works by Degas, van Gogh and Matisse.

The best-known work in the Wynn collection was “Le Rêve,” a 1932 Picasso; Wynn even named a casino after it. Last March, Steve Wynn sold the Picasso to billionaire Steven A. Cohen, hedge fund manager and CEO of SAC Capital. Asking price: a cool $155 million.