Painting of nude Cherie (Booth) Blair to go on sale

London, Mar.20 (ANI): A 1972 painting of Cherie Blair in the nude is listed for sale at a Mayfair art gallery in London, with a price tag of 600,000 pounds.

Cherie Blair was 22 and unmarried when she posed for the drawing. It was made soon after she had graduated from the London School of Economics and depicts a young woman's naked body, although Uglow did not sketch the subject's head.

The proof that Cherie Booth was the model is that her name is written alongside the drawing, with what was then her London home telephone number.

A sketch, which is also on show at the Browse and Darby gallery, has already been sold for 4,000 pounds. The Blairs are speculated to have bought the sketch, but the gallery is keeping mum, reports The Independent.

"It's the policy of the gallery that we keep our buyers' names secret. A lot of them don't want their names to be revealed," gallery owner Charles Bradstock said.

"There has been a very good reaction to both works. We had a packed private viewing. Cherie Blair came before the private viewing to see them. She was interested, because she had never seen them before. They brought back memories. Her husband wasn't with her," he added.

Euan Uglow, who died in 2000 aged 68, did the painting. He was noted for his slow, methodical way of working, which involved taking dozens of measurements of his subjects.

He specified that the drawing and painting should not go on public show while Tony Blair was prime minister.

Cherie Booth met Uglow through the future lord chancellor Derry Irvine, who was head of the chambers where she and Tony Blair received their barrister training. The Blairs' oldest child is named Euan. (ANI)