Freud's 'Big Sue' expected to fetch £18m at auction

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
Arts & Ents blogs

Mario & Vidis: An album makes you rethink what you’ve been doing

In 2007 Marijus Adomaitis teamed up with Vidmantas Cepkauskas to form Mario & Vidis – Lithuania...

Beth Jeans Houghton interview: “I hate London”

Falling from the limelight is often damaging to any artist and devastating at the start of a career....

Turbo Records going into overdrive for 2012

Last year I interviewed Tiga, owner of Canadian label Turbo Records, about his ZZT project - which h...

A life-size painting by Lucian Freud which has never been seen publicly in Britain is expected to sell for up to £18m, making it the most expensive work by a living artist at auction.

The work, Benefits Supervisor Sleeping – which features a Jobcentre worker fondly known as "Big Sue", the subject of several masterpieces by Freud – was painted in 1995. Because it was sold privately at the time, it has never before appeared at auction.

Christie's, which is selling the piece in New York next month, called it "the most important work by Lucian Freud" and predicted it could smash the current world auction record for a work by a living artist, held by Jeff Koons's Hanging Heart which fetched £11.3m last year. Before then, Damien Hirst had held the title for Lullaby Spring, which sold for £9.6m, also last year.

The portrait's subject, Sue Tilley, is now 51. She posed for Freud for four years in the early 1990s after being introduced to him by the Australian performance artist Leigh Bowery, who was himself the subject of several large scale portraits by Freud in the 1990s. Bowery recommended several sitters, attempting to find models whose dramatic physicality would appeal to him. Freud, 85, had responded with great enthusiasm to Bowery's "bulky" form and that is what is said to have led the performance artist to consider his friend as a potential model.

Freud first painted the subject in 1993, in a work which shows her lying in an uncomfortable pose on the bare floor.

Ms Tilley, who lives in London and posed for Freud on her days off from her job at the central London Jobcentre, said it was her "favourite" work and would buy it herself if she could. She has previously speculated about why she may have been selected by Freud as a model, saying: "I think he probably picked me because he got value for money. He got a lot of flesh."

Speaking of when she wentfor her first sitting, she said: "I was mortified when I got there and he told me to take my clothes off."

Before the artist started working on the portraits of Ms Tilley, he covered her tattoos with fresh-coloured paint, because "he adores flesh so much."

The auction record for a Freud is £9.3m, set in November 2007 for IB and her Husband.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Apple admits it has a human rights problem

Apple admits it has a human rights problem

After years of complaints and workers' suicides in China the technology giant faces up to the human cost of its gadgets
Peter Moore: 'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'

Peter Moore interview

'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'
Sellafield faces nuclear option as overspending threatens plant's future

Sellafield faces nuclear option

Overspending threatens plant's future
Israel blames Iran for embassy bomb attacks

Israel blames Iran for embassy bomb attacks

Tehran rejects Netanyahu's 'lies' after diplomats in India and Georgia targeted
Former manager enjoying Apoel crack at the big time

Tommy Cassidy interview

Former manager enjoying Apoel crack at the big time
James Lawton: Patience may not be a virtue this time, Roman – Andre Villas-Boas looks all at sea

James Lawton: AVB looks all at sea

Abramovich's visits to training reinforce the idea of a coach feeling pressure from above and below
The 10 Best sledges

The 10 Best sledges

Not all of them require snow...
Procrastination: Not now – I'm busy

Procrastination: Not now – I'm busy

Confronting the real reasons for puttting things off can help us beat it
Fun in the sunset years

Fun in the sunset years

A new movie follows retirees moving to India for low-cost care and a culture of respect for the elderly. For many Britons, it's already a reality
Picture preview: Lucian Freud drawings

Lucian Freud drawings

Picture preview
Silent revolution at the Baftas as the French take top awards

Silent revolution at the Baftas

The Artist wins in seven categories, with Meryl Streep the other big success story
Whitney Houston: The diva who had – and lost – it all

The diva who had – and lost – it all

Nick Hasted charts the highs and lows of Whitney Houston's life
How Picasso won over (some of) the British

How Picasso won over (some of) the British

Winston Churchill and Evelyn Waugh hated his work, but Picasso provided inspiration for a whole generation of UK artists
Topshop: A Decade Of Design

Topshop: A Decade Of Design

When London Fashion Week starts on Friday, Topshop will celebrate 10 years backing its brightest young stars
John Prescott: 'My wife thought I'd just retire, but I'm not a slippers man'

'My wife thought I'd just retire, but I'm not a slippers man'

At 73, John Prescott isn't mellowing. In fact he's taking a shot at becoming a police commissioner