Lucian Freud

Lucian Michael Freud, Sigmund Freud's grandson, was born in Berlin in 1922. In 1933 he emigrated with his family to England, where he acquired British nationality in 1939.

His earliest love was drawing, and he began to work full time as an artist after being invalided out of the Merchant Navy in 1942.

In 1951 his Interior at Paddington (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool) won a prize at the Festival of Britain, and since then he has built up a formidable reputation as one of the most powerful contemporary figurative painters.

Portraits and nudes are his specialities, often observed in arresting close-up.

His early work was meticulously painted, so he has sometimes been described as a `Realist', but the subjectivity and intensity of his work has always set him apart from the sober tradition characteristic of most British figurative art since the Second World War.

In his later work (from the late 1950s) his handling became much broader.

His portrait Benefits Supervisor Sleeping from1995 was sold for $33,6, one of the most expensive work sold at this point.

"Many of the figures are asleep, exposed, vulnerable. You can't help feeling that they have in some way become Freud's victims. The painter is a voyeur and he transfers this sensation to the viewer of the paintings. There is a slight sense of guilt in viewing Freud's work, as if you are an intruder in a private space. In one portrait of a nude woman sleeping, there is the shadow of a head on the floor. It is surely meant to be Freud's. But it also become the viewer." (Cockburn:2004:181)

Sources:

- Cockburn, Alexandre: Serpents in the garden: liaisons with culture & sex. 2004. California: CounterPunch

- Los Angeles Magazine, April 2003

- Stremmel, Kerstin: Realism. 2004. Köln: Taschen.

My point of view:

In fact, when I see his naked portraits, I don't feel repugnance. I am seeing people in a very pure essence and reality, in a state of calm, purity and simplicity, with body details and expressions. Lucian Freud's work is very detailed, nothing is missing. And, yes, I feel more like an intruder, a voyeur than a simple viewer. It's almost as I am invading the space in the portrait.

I am not a fan of his work but I admire it because it is a way of drifting apart from the real and superficial beauty. It is another perception of real life, real people.