LONDON (AP) 鈥� Sue Tilley was working in an unemployment office when she met the artist . The paintings he made of her in the 1990s are now among the most famous in modern art 鈥� and the most valuable.
鈥淪leeping by the Lion Carpet,鈥� regarded as one of Freud鈥檚 masterpieces, is going up for sale at Sotheby鈥檚 on June 24, with a presale estimate of 25 million pounds to 35 million pounds ($33 million to $47 million).
Tilley hasn鈥檛 seen any of the millions that the portraits have fetched at auction. But she doesn鈥檛 regret a thing.
鈥淚t did change my life,鈥� Tilley told The Associated Press as she sat in front of the 7 陆-foot (2.3-meter)-high nude image of herself in the auction house showroom. 鈥淲ho would have thought I鈥檇 be in Sotheby鈥檚?鈥�
鈥淪leeping by the Lion Carpet,鈥� painted in 1996, is the last of Freud鈥檚 four monumental portraits of Tilley reclining, resting or dozing. An earlier painting, 鈥淏enefits Supervisor Sleeping,鈥� sold at auction in 2008 for $33.6 million, at the time a record for a living artist.
鈥淚 was thrilled I was in 鈥楾he Guinness Book of Records,鈥欌�� said 69-year-old Tilley, who has a rich laugh and an air of delight at the twists her life has taken. 鈥淯nfortunately, it didn鈥檛 say my name. There was a picture and it said 鈥楤enefits Supervisor.鈥� But I was still thrilled that it was there.鈥�
Cups of tea and paint everywhere
Freud, a grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, is famed for fleshy nudes of friends, family and the artist himself. He slathered oil paint to capture his subjects鈥� mottled skin tones in portraits that are both unsparing and warm. He even painted Queen Elizabeth II 鈥� fully clothed. By the time of his death aged 88 in 2011, he was the most acclaimed British portrait painter of the 20th century.
His reputation has only grown since. Another picture of Tilley, 鈥淏enefits Supervisor Resting,鈥� was . In 2022, his painting 鈥淟arge Interior, W11鈥� sold for $86 million.
Tilley met Freud through her friend Leigh Bowery, the late Australian performance artist, who also posed for the painter. She recalls 鈥渢rudging up the stairs鈥� to Freud鈥檚 London studio for sittings that involved plentiful tea and chitchat, punctuated by a good lunch. Each portrait was the product of months of work.
鈥淪leeping by the Lion Carpet,鈥� Tilley says, 鈥渨as the most comfortable one, because I was sitting up in a chair. Lying down on the sofa looks comfortable, but after a while it got a bit painful.鈥�
Freud painted his friends, lovers, children and colleagues, and the results are bold and exposing. Tilley says that has never bothered her.
鈥淚鈥檓 not really vain,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ometimes I get out of bed in the morning, and I look at my legs and go, 鈥極h, they look just like that painting.鈥欌��
She loved the messy energy of Freud鈥檚 studio, where 鈥渉e used to make you a drink and whisk it up with a dirty old paintbrush, and there was paint absolutely everywhere. I鈥檇 go home and there鈥檇 be bits of paint all over me.鈥�
Tilley was part of a 1980s and ’90s London creative scene, alongside figures like Bowery, who ran the avant-garde Taboo nightclub and died in 1994 aged 33. She says she enjoyed Freud鈥檚 tales of an earlier Bohemian era.
鈥淚 used to love hearing about when he was roaring around in a Rolls-Royce open top with Cecil Beaton and Marlene Dietrich and goodness knows (who), and when he met Judy Garland,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 used to love getting the stories of his youth and his misbehavior.鈥�
Freud’s 鈥榤agnum opus鈥� up for sale
Tilley is unperturbed that her image is ending up in the hands of the ultra-wealthy. 鈥淏enefits Supervisor Sleeping鈥� was bought in 2008 by Roman Abramovich, the then-owner of Chelsea Football Club, who was sanctioned by the U.K. after Russia鈥檚 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
鈥淪leeping by the Lion Carpet鈥� is part of a June 24-25 sale from the collection of British billionaire Joe Lewis, the former majority owner of Premier League soccer team Tottenham Hotspur, which is still owned by his family. Also going under the hammer are works by Henri Matisse, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and others, collectively valued at more than 150 million pounds ($201 million).
There’s a chance 鈥淪leeping by the Lion Carpet鈥� could set a new record. Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby鈥檚 Europe, describes it as Freud鈥檚 鈥渕agnum opus.鈥�
鈥淭his is a painting that during his lifetime was very much described by Lucian as being the apogee of everything that he was trying to achieve as a painter,鈥� Barker said. 鈥淭he market knows, and it鈥檚 very savvy, it wants to go for the best of the best 鈥� and this is it.鈥�
Tilley, who is retired and lives on England’s south coast, says Freud 鈥済ave me a couple of etchings, and then I sold them, because I鈥檇 rather have the money, and I went on holiday.鈥�
She says she doesn鈥檛 regret Freud not leaving her one of the paintings. Her place in art history is secure.
鈥淲hen I was younger, I used to read art books the whole time and read all about the Pre-Raphaelites and the Impressionists, all the goings on, how they鈥檙e all friends and interconnected and all the models knew each other,” she said.
鈥淎nd now, I鈥檝e only just realized, I鈥檓 part of that. And that鈥檚 thrilling for me that I鈥檝e achieved my ambition without really knowing it.鈥�
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
