Lucian Freud
Lucian Freud is an artist well known for his thickly impasted portrait and figure paintings, and is known as ‘Greatest Figurative Painter Of Modern Times’. He was born in Berlin on December 8th 1922 and was the grandson of Sigmund Freud the founder of Psychoanalysis. His family moved to England when Hitler came to power because they were Jews. He became a British Citizen in 1939 and attended Dartington Hall School in Totnes, Devon and later Bryanston School. Freud studied at the Central School of Art in London and then at Cedric Morris East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in Dedham. He also attended Goldsmiths College University of London from 1942-1943.
By 1939 he had several of his drawings published in a magazine called ‘Horizon’. He illustrated a book of poems by Nicholas Moore entitled ‘The Glass Tower’. In 1946 he travelled to Paris and then lived in Greece for Several months. Then he lived and worked in London. When he was 17 he started to socialise with homosexual groups like Stephen Spender and Cyril Connolly. Another influence was his grandfather (the psychologist Sigmund Freud). He brought prints by Brueghel for him when he was a child. Other influences were Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon, John Minton and Leigh Bowery who were other painters and he painted them.
In 1940 he was interested in drawing the face as in ‘Naval Gunner’. Freud’s early paintings were associated with surrealism and were of people, plants and animals side by side. His technique was using thin paint. He painted ‘The Painters Room’. ‘The Painters Room’ was displayed in his first solo exhibition in 1944 at the Lefeure gallery. From the 1950’s he began to paint portraits and they were usually nudes. His technique changed to a thicker impasto. This was a thick application of oil paint that looked rough texture. He cleaned his brush after every stroke to stop the colours from running. He begins by drawing in charcoal on canvas. Then applies paint to a small area and gradually works outward to form thick layers. He painted naked straight women and gay men. He was noted for his slowness of painting.
He began nude female portraits in 1966 and nude males in 1977. These were painted sitting or lying. His favourite subject was Leigh Bowery. He painted in style of surrealism, realism and expressionism. . Successes include After Cezanne, ‘The Painters Room’ and ‘Girl With A White Dog’.
The Painters Room 1943
This featured an arrangement of objects including a stuffed zebra’s head, battered chaise lounge and a house plant and they all appeared separately in future paintings.
Girl With A White Dog 1952
This was a portrait of Freud’s first wife – Kitty. He liked to paint “pet and owner”. This is his most famous painting. It captures the moment. He uses bold gestures. In this picture the gown slips down her right shoulder exposing a breast and Freud captures the emotions on her face at that moment which include confidence, maturity and apprehension.
After Cezanne 1999.
This was an unusual shape because the top left section has been joined onto the main section. You can see where the two sections join when you look closely. It was sold for 7.4 million dollars to the National Gallery of Austrailia.
Man with Rat 1977
Freud liked to paint “pet and owner”. The use of animals and people side by side. He was interested in homosexuality and painted the reality of the male form.
Freuds paintings show the truth and the individuality of the models. Freud’s subjects were people in his life like family, friends, fellow painters, lovers and children. He said ‘The subject matter is autobiographical, it’s all to do with hope and memory and sensuality and involvement, really’. He used the same people for different paintings to develop a bond. He used friends instead of professionals because he wanted natural and real thoughts and feels of the person. He painted showing all the faults and ugliness and was well known for “capturing the moment”. Some people thought that his paintings showed humiliation and that he considered himself and his views to be always right. I think he was right to paint the truth because not everybody is beautiful.
Webliography
· “Lucian Freud Works On Paper-Great Britain South Bank Board
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