Lucian Freud's final painting in his series featuring benefits supervisor Sue Tilley is expected to fetch up to £35m at auction, yet the subject herself admits she has never profited from the works. 'Sleeping by the Lion Carpet,' painted between 1995 and 1996, will be sold at Sotheby's for the first time in June. Art critic Martin Gayford has called it 'the most important work that Freud has ever painted.'
The Painting and Its Subject
The artwork depicts Tilley lounging naked on a leather sofa. She posed for Freud, who died in 2011 at age 88, three times a week over nine months. Reflecting on the painting's valuation, Tilley told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I've worked it out and I think I must be worth about £100m with the four paintings and all the etchings, and I think, "How can that be possible when I've never got any money myself?"'
Experience as a Muse
Tilley, in her late thirties during the sittings, described the experience as 'very pleasurable.' She said: 'What could be better? Lying around, being fed glorious food, being in the company of one of the greatest artists in the world and having all the Sunday supplements to read?' She joked about asking Freud to improve her hair, but he refused. Tilley also noted that people often fail to recognize her when she walks past the famous painting. After a recent visit to the National Portrait Gallery, she believes visitors did not identify her because her hair is now grey.
Body Positivity and Acceptance
Speaking to The Press Association, Tilley remarked that the paintings demonstrate 'all those skinny girls that big girls can do well as well.' She added: 'I feel like I'm an example for big women to show themselves off. It's good that it's different. If everyone looked the same, it'd be boring, wouldn't it? That's what I'm like and that's what you have to accept, that all humans are different. Everyone's got different things about them and they should be championed rather than brushed under the carpet.'
Background and Legacy
Tilley, also known as 'Big Sue' and later an artist and writer, was paid £33 per day by Freud to pose. They were introduced by mutual friend Leigh Bowery. The works became a series of four large canvases painted between 1993 and 1996. Sotheby's estimates the painting's value between £25m and £35m and will exhibit it from June 10 as part of its London Modern and Contemporary Sales. In 2015, Freud's 1995 portrait of Tilley, 'Benefits Supervisor Resting,' sold for £35.9m, setting a record. Tilley found Freud fascinating, describing him as 'mean, extremely generous, grumpy, funny, loud, quiet.' He later ended their friendship after taking offence at an offhand remark. Freud gave her only etchings of the portraits, which she sold when short on money. Tilley retired from the Job Centre and moved to East Sussex, where she began painting herself.
