Lucian Freud painting of London employment officer sold for $39 million

A nude portrait by British artist Lucian Freud of Sue Tilley, a London employment officer, was sold at Sotheby's in London for $39 million, achieving the third-highest price in the artist's oeuvre. Tilley was 35 years old and working at the London employment office when the painting was created.

A nude portrait by British artist Lucian Freud was recently sold at Sotheby's in London for $39 million, approximately €36 million, achieving the third-highest price in the artist's oeuvre.

The painting's subject is Sue Tilley, a 35-year-old employment officer in London at the time the work was created. Freud produced four portrait studies of Tilley in total, and one of them has now achieved a near-record price at auction.

Tilley is one of Freud's most renowned muses, her full-figured forms depicted in repose embodying the artist's distinctive and uncompromising realistic style. Freud, who died in 2011, is known for his intense and psychologically charged portraits, which never idealize the subject.

The $39 million sale price confirms that there remains strong international demand for the works of Lucian Freud on the art market.