What type of employee was resting in a nude painting by Lucian Freud that sold for over £35 million in 2015?

On 14 May 2015 a life-sized nude by Lucian Freud of an obese benefits supervisor nicknamed 'Fat Sue' was sold at auction in New York for over £35m, setting a new record for the late British painter. Benefits Supervisor Resting went under the hammer for £35.6 million ($56.2 million) at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art evening sale in Manhattan. Freud’s 1994 picture was sold to London art dealer Pilar Ordovas on behalf of an anonymous buyer. The sale exceeded its high estimate of £32 million.

The piece was one of four portraits Freud made of the ample-figured Sue Tilley. Tilley became Freud’s muse when he met her through the performance artist Leigh Bowery in the early 1990's. The English portrait painter, who died in 2011, painted Tilley, who he called “Fat Sue”, four times and paid her £20 a day to sit for him.

More Info: www.telegraph.co.uk

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7 Comments

Janice Fish

Good question

David Holmes

Merri Sillery, In England and the rest of the UK she would be a Government Employee (civil servant) responsible for State Assistance ie Job Seeker's allowance etc)

David Holmes

Seen the painting in an exhibition of his work.

Richard D. Boyle

Merri Sillery, Hi Merri, I can’t speak for the UK but in the US, a benefits supervisor would normally be a staff position of a medium to large size business which offers benefit packages in addition to wages for its employees. These benefits might include a variety of health plans, maternity leave, vacation time, sick days, child care, suggestion bonus, investment plans, retirement plans, stock options, Christmas or Holiday bonus, etc. These available bonus items need to be managed and administered by someone on behalf of the company. In a large company, it would be a full time job supervising perhaps several employees. In a small company with few benefits, the function might be assigned as an additional duty to the Personnel Supervisor who could then delegate the routine duties to one or more of his or her department personnel. This can be a very big job in any business that is unionized. In small family businesses or even in much larger ones with few or no benefits, the need for a supervisor and/staff may not exist at all or just as an additional duty.

Merri Sillery

Could someone explain just what a benefits supervisor does. This isn't a joke, I lived in England for a little over three years back in the early eighties and don't remember this term. Thanks in advance.