Artists & Illustrators - UK (2019-12)

40 Artists&Illustrators

LUCIAN FREUD

wasdescribedbyartcriticRobert

Hughesin1987,asa “visualtruth”.

Freud,hesaid,hadgivenBacon’s

“pear-shapedfacethesilentintensity

ofa grenadeinthemillisecondbefore

it goesoff”.Thosewordsexpress

whatFreudachievedinportraiture,

andself-portraitureinparticular:

anintensevisualtruth.

TheyoungerFreudwasinfluenced

bysomeofBacon’sworkingmethods.

Fromthe1950s,therewere

noticeablechangesinhispainting

andpaintapplication,likestanding

uptopaint,asBacondid,andusing

hog’shairbrushesforthickerpaint

textures.(1954’sHotelBedroomwas

apparentlythelastworkFreud

paintedsittingdown.)

Freudneverappliedpaintstraight

fromthetube.Heusednatural,

earthycoloursandalwaysmixed

themona hand-heldpalette.

Hewouldmixthepaintforone

brushstrokethenwipethebrush

cleanwitha cleanrag.Insome

artworksthediscardedrags,often

formerhotellinen,canbeseenin

pilesonthestudiofloor.Paintonthe

palettewouldberemovedwitha

paletteknifeandscrapedontothe

studiowalltokeepit offthefloor.

Paintwallspattersarevisible

behindFreudinthe 2002

masterpiece,Self-portrait,Reflection.

Withthecolourmixedashewanted,

witheachbrushstrokehewouldlook

againathissubject– inthecaseof

hisself-portraits,hisownreflectionin

themirror.Thishelpedhimtogetthe

tonalcolourationandtexturehe

wanted,beforepushingthenext

heavily-loadedpaintbrushacross

thecanvas.

It is inthisrespectthathisworking

methoddifferedfromBacon.Freud

hadtohavethesitterinthestudio,

evenwhenpaintinginthebackground

detail,whilehisfriendandpeer

preferredtoworkfromphotographs

ofa sitter.ForFreud,a sittingwasa

face-to-faceprivateexperience.How

sitterswantedtoseethemselveswas

notnecessarilywhathesaw.Whathe

wantedtoachievewashisobjective,

evenif it meantdaysofdiscomfortfor

thesitter.Hestatedthat,inthis

ABOVE Lucian

Freud, Man with

a Feather, 1943,

oil on canvas,

76.2x50.8cm

© THE LUCIAN FREUD ARCHIVE/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES