Model Cost US$40 an Hour. Painting to Sell for US$35 Million

It must be strange to hear that a painting of yourself is expected to sell for around US$35 million... that's what Lucian Freud's painting "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" is predicted to go for when it's auctioned next month. If you're a fan of Freud's work then you'll recognize the model, who's also known as "Big Sue", from some of his other paintings.

According to the BBC, Sue Tilley "got £20 a day" when she started posing for Freud. Tilley is quoted as saying: "It was the experience, it wasn't the money at all. It was just fantastic ... to work with such a great artist, and chat to them, find out about them and see what they were doing."

Tilley posted two or three times a week and apparently also enjoyed seeing the progress Freud had made on the other paintings he was working on. Read more in the news reports on BBC and the Guardian.

See Also:
• Biography: Lucian Freud
• Lucian Freud Photo Gallery: The Painter's Etchings
• Book Review: Freud at Work

^{Image: Benefits Supervisor Sleeping by Lucian Freud, 1995. Photo © Cate Gillon/Getty Images}