Lucian Freud's Lion Carpet to fetch 35 million pounds

A major painting by the late British artist Lucian Freud, depicting his longtime model Sue Tilley, is expected to sell for up to 35 million pounds when it goes to auction next month. The work, titled "Sleeping by the Lion Carpet," will be offered at Sotheby’s in London on June 24 as part of a high-value sale from the collection of British billionaire Joe Lewis.

The 1996 painting is the final and largest in a series of four monumental nude portraits Freud made of Tilley between 1993 and 1996. It measures over seven feet tall and depicts Tilley, a former unemployment office worker, slouched on a sofa. The auction house has given the work a presale estimate of 25 million to 35 million pounds, which is approximately 33 million to 47 million dollars.

Despite the immense value her image now commands, Tilley herself has not profited from the sales. She was paid 33 pounds per day to sit for the artist. In a recent interview, the 69-year-old expressed amusement at the painting’s worth, calculating that the combined value of the four portraits and related etchings must be around 100 million pounds. She noted she has never received any of that money, but stated she has no regrets. "It did...