Going once...going twice...

I’ve always been intrigued by Lucian Freud’s portraits, especially the nudes, both men and women.

Uncompromising truth is sometimes difficult to look at and I think he captures this facet in all of us to an excruciating degree. He refuses to paint “pretty;” including his self-portraits (shown here).

I mentioned to a friend one time that if I were ever going to pose for a particular artist I would choose Lucian Freud and he said “I thought you already had” and sent me this photograph of a painting done in 1994 of Leigh Bowery, a performance artist and a friend of Freud’s. Oh for goodness sake, say I, he obviously doesn’t need me to pose for him, having already visited this type of torso a number of times.



Anyway, this topic has come to mind because a 1995 painting of Freud’s, Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, is coming up for auction at Christie’s on May 13th. If you think you might like a large painting of a voluptuous woman on a dilapidated sofa hanging above your mantelpiece, now’s your chance. It’s offered from a private European collection and it has been estimated that it will sell for $25 million to $35 million. If so, it will set a record for any work by a living artist to be sold at auction. I understand the woman who posed for this painting, one Sue Tilley, was paid $40 to do so. I would do it for less if it included some decent coffee, a fresh bagel (with a generous helping of cream cheese) and, of course, a well-heated atelier.

Update - April 25, 2008

This received from yet another peanut gallery. An unsolicited contribution, without comment, but yet another gleeful insult to my personal anatomy. Harrumph!




Update - May 18, 2008

Benefits Supervisor Sleeping sold at auction to a Russian billionaire for $33,641,000. Her beauty will grace his private residence and will not be displayed in a museum. Certain individuals are dismayed by this turn of events and certain individuals are pleased with this outcome.