Freud Art Might Fetch £18m

The Daily Mail reports that a painting of a naked JobCentre manager by Lucian Freud is expected to become the most expensive picture by a living artist ever sold when it goes under the hammer in New York next month. The 85-year-old artist's huge canvas is predicted to make up to £18million for its owner, a European art collector, at a Christie's sale on 13 May. The auction house is putting the 1m x 2m picture on show at its King Street offices today, Monday and Tuesday, the first time it has been seen in public in Britain. Today, the woman in the picture, 51-year-old Sue Tilley, who works in a West End JobCentre, told how it was almost never painted. The first time the artist met her, in a Soho nightclub 20 years ago, he criticised her lipstick. “He said it had too many blue tones. "The next time we met was over lunch at the River Café and I wore a different lipstick,” she said. She knew she was effectively being interviewed for the role of artist's muse and was briefed on how to behave by their mutual friend, performance artist Leigh Bowery. I went to Lucian's house in Holland Park. "I like a bit of excitement but I was still mortified when I got there and he told me to take my clothes off. "For the first picture I had to lie on the floorboards in a most uncomfortable position. “I was in agony and I thought about giving up. But we work hard in my family so I stuck it for the whole nine months. “For the picture on the sofa I only had three days off in two years. Every weekend he expected me to be there and I couldn't go on holiday because I couldn't get a tan,” she said. She was astonished by the estimate Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, 1995, has attracted. “I'm beside myself. Wait till I tell my mum,” she said. “If I had the money I'd buy it myself because it's my favourite.” She added: “I might go to the art exhibition. I'm sure no one would recognise me.” (For full source and full article click the Headline). Irish Art