Raw and honest

The painting Benefits Supervisor Sleeping shows a naked, obese woman who has made herself comfortable on a sofa for a nap. It was painted in 1995 and could still cause a stir today. Ideals of beauty and body acceptance have not been overcome then or now, even if one would like to believe so. Lucian Freud's oil paintings and his relentlessly honest but respectful view of his models continue to serve as an orientation for a more tolerant society. One more reason to remember the portrait painter who was already famous and rightly praised during his lifetime. Today, the artist, who died in 2004, would have turned 100.

On the art market, Freud is undisputedly one of the scene's drawing cards. Benefits Supervisor Sleeping fetched 33.6 million US dollars at a Christie's auction in 2008. Its sister painting Benefits Supervisor Resting, painted in 1994 and showing the same model Sue Tilly, fetched almost 56.2 million US dollars at Christie's in 2015. Most of his paintings change hands via private sales, prices remain unknown − Freud's works are highly prized by collectors.