Five Bidders Battle for Lucian Freud’s Portrait of Longtime Muse Sue Tilley

The Sotheby’s salesroom erupted in applause as one of Lucian Freud’s defining paintings, ‘Sleeping by the Lion Carpet,’ achieved £29.3 million in its auction debut. Part of the record-breaking Masterpieces from The Lewis Collection, it’s one of four celebrated works Freud made of benefits supervisor Sue Tilley. Painted over a nine-month period, this astounding portrait offers a comprehensive revelation of Freud’s approach to depicting the human figure. At over eight feet, ‘Sleeping by the Lion Carpet’ is the final and most ambitious of Freud’s Tilley portraits.