15 of the Most Expensive Auction Items Ever Sold

15 of the Most Expensive Auction Items Ever Sold

Modelesque

Sue Tilley poses under the 1995 oil painting, "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" (which she modelled for) by British artist Lucien Freud, at a viewing at the National Portrait Gallery in London, February 8, 2012. The painting fetched $33.6 million at a Christie's auction in 2008, a record for a living artist. The show "Lucien Freud Portraits" runs through May 27, 2012.

REUTERS/Chris Helgren