Freud's '£2m' nude daughter portrait
A Lucian Freud painting of his daughter Bella in the nude is expected to fetch £2million at auction next month.
Bella (1982-83) will go under the hammer at Christie's on June 23 after its anonymous private owner put it up for sale. The painting is part of a series featuring the artist's daughters after they had grown up.
Freud, now 82, rarely named his subjects but the paintings were thought to be his way of acknowledging his children after his years of absence when they were growing up.
The work is unlikely to set a new world record for a Freud painting. Christie's broke the record twice in February.
Freud's Red-Haired Man on a Chair (1962-63) sold for £4.1million and then his Naked Portrait (2002), a life-size painting of a pregnant Kate Moss, went for £3.9million after a furious battle between rival bidders.
