London – The painting ‘Ria, Naked Portrait’ by British painter Lucian Freud will be auctioned for the first time at an auction organised by Christie’s in London for an estimated price of between 10 and 15 million pounds (12 and 18 million euros), the house announced on Friday.
This painting, which will be one of the highlights of the evening of pieces from the 20th and 21st centuries on October 9, is part of the portrait tradition of female nudes with antecedents in Titian, Velázquez and especially Manet’s ‘Olympia’, much admired by Freud,
According to a statement from Christie’s, this late masterpiece by Freud (1922-2011) “encapsulates the elements that define the artist’s distinctive and celebrated style in his final years.”
The model, Ria Kirby, was a dealer whom Freud met at the Victoria & Albert Museum during a joint exhibition with Frank Auerbach in 2006, the report said.
Kirby became one of Freud’s most frequent models in his final decade, posing for over 2,400 hours in his final 16 months.
The auctioned work was completed in 2007 and was a major focus of the National Portrait Gallery’s 2012 exhibition of Lucian Freud portraits, the museum’s most successful to date. EFE
