A
Lucian Freud painting of a naked job centre worker has set a new world record
for the artist’s work by selling for more than £35 million.
The
painting, entitled ‘Benefits Supervisor Resting’ was sold for a whopping £35.8
million at Christie’s in New York yesterday, and shows 127-kilo Sue Tilley
resting on a sofa.
Miss
Tilley, who was nicknamed ‘Fat Sue’ by Freud, began posing for him in the early
nineties, earning £20 a day – and was painted by the artist four times.
She
watched the auction live on her computer, but told the Evening Standard that
she had never expected the painting to reach iconic status.
‘I
was just like “maybe I’ll have one picture in the paper one day”, but never in
100 years that they would become what they’ve become’.
The
1994 painting was sold to London art dealer Pilar Ordovas, on behalf of an
anonymous buyer, but it’s not the first of the four paintings to go on sale for
a lucrative sum.
In
2008, another work entitled ‘Benefits Supervisor Sleeping’ was sold to Chelsea
owner Roman Abramovich for £17.25 million.
Brett
Gorvy, international head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie’s, said:
‘Benefits Supervisor Resting is recognised internationally as Freud’s
masterpiece and proclaims him as one of the greatest painters of the human form
in history alongside Rembrandt and Rubens’.
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