Volkswacht Bodensee - Lucian Freud nude goes on sale for the first time

"Ria, Naked Portrait" is the star attraction of next Wednesday's sale and is being sold for the first time by a private collector.

Works by Freud, who died in 2011, have attracted growing interest -- and prices -- in recent years, and "Ria" is expected to sell for between £10 million and £15 million ($13 million to $19.6 million).

"It's a late masterpiece," Anna Touzin, from auctioneers Christie's, told AFP. "It was painted between 2006 and 2007 and in the same collection since it was made.

"It's the first time it's coming to the market, which is really exciting."

Freud, considered one of Britain's greatest portrait artists, took 16 months to paint the work, with the subject -- Ria Kirby -- sitting virtually every day for up to five hours.

"So a really long process and I think it shows Freud's relationship with his sitters, the kind of dedication that they would give to him but that he also gave to them, painting them," she added.

Freud -- the grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud -- is known for his uncompromising nudes and self-portraits, replete with flabby breasts or rounded stomachs.

"He doesn't want to portray an idealised view of the body but he's really trying to paint people as they are," said Touzin.

Freud's "honesty" has made him one of the most sought-after artists on the art market.

In 2022, his "Large Interior, W11" sold for a record $86 million while in 2015, another nude, "Benefits Supervisor Resting" went for more than $56 million.

The Christie's sale also includes Freud's "Head of a Woman", which is expected to fetch between £3 million and £5 million.

Works by Marc Chagall, Berthe Morisot, William de Kooning and Jeff Koons will also be on sale.

B.Baumann--VB