''Benefits Supervisor Sleeping'' is a 1995 oil on canvas

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...

depicting a full figured, naked woman lying on a couch. It is a

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

of Sue Tilley, a Job Centre supervisor, then weighing about . Tilley is the author of a biography of the Australian performer

Leigh Bowery Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 – 31 December 1994) was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, and fashion designer. Bowery was known for his flamboyant and outlandish costumes and makeup as well as his (sometimes controversial) perform ...

titled ''Leigh Bowery, The Life and Times of an Icon''. Tilley was introduced to Freud by Bowery, who was already modelling for him. Freud painted a number of large portraits of her around the period 1994–96, and came to call her "Big Sue". He said of her body "It's flesh without muscle and it has developed a different kind of texture through bearing such a weight-bearing thing". The painting held the world record for the highest price paid for a painting by a living artist when it was sold by Guy Naggar for US$33.6 million (£17.2 million) at Christie's in New York in May 2008 to

Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, England, and is the ...

. Freud's painting '' The Brigadier'' was sold for £35.8million ($56.2million) in 2015, four years after his death, replacing ''Benefits Supervisor Sleeping'' as the most expensive Freud painting sold at auction. The painting was exhibited twice at Flowers Gallery: *1996: ''Naked'' – Flowers East at London Fields *1997: ''British Figurative Art - Part 1: Painting'' at Flowers East

References

External links

Lot Details on Christies.com
Paintings by Lucian Freud Nude art 1995 paintings Portraits of women {{20C-painting-stub