Billionaire art patron and philanthropist Elaine Wynn, famous for her record-breaking purchase of a $142 million Francis Bacon triptych at Christie's, has expensive tastes. After all, she can afford it—Forbes estimated her current net worth as $1.52 billion.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Ms. Wynn discusses her first reaction to seeing the Bacon work as "gobsmacked," and decided to bid well above the $85 million estimate.