Lucian Freud

Week 29/03/2021

This week I will be talking about the artist Lucian Freud.

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Freud over everything wanted to be known as a biologist, his main interest was ‘truth telling.’ ‘I work from people that interest me, and that I care about and think about, in rooms that I live in and no.’

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Born in 1922, son of an architect, Freud grew up in a influential area of Berlin. The house was filled with prints by Hokusai and Durer.  In 1933 during the war Freud’s family emigrated to England. As a child Freud was obsessed with horses. In England while at boarding school he would sleep in the stables; I believe this is where his love of form and the body started.

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‘The painters room’ 1943/44. This piece is oil on canvas 62.2 × 76.2 cm. You can see a Zebras head elongating itself out of a window, in a cement/mud looking room. In the room there is a sofa or a chaise longue, which looks comfy to sit on. The sofa is propped up with two visible wheels which can be dragged around and there’s a very obvious shadow presenting itself. There is also a red blanket on the floor which looks like it’s been thrown there. The whole painting is hectic yet organised, it has a fairly simple design concept however the colours add vibrance to it. The pops of yellow or the slight hint of red in the palm tree near the top. The zebra; how strange it all looks. I’m trying to make sense of the chaos and abstractness. There’s something funny about it. It’s very surreal. Later in life Freud turned away from this kind of manage realism. He said ‘I think Lautreamont’s passage about the sewing machine and the umbrella on the operating table was an unnecessary elaborate encounter. What could be more surreal than a noise between two eyes.’

A piece that I find intriguing is the Francis Bacon portrait. ‘Francis Bacon’ was stolen from a Berlin gallery and is still unaccounted for to this day. It is small painting 17.8×12.8 cm and painted oil on copper. Freud spent three months painting it. You can see Bacon’s pear-shaped head filling the frame. His eyes making him look dazed. The light coming from the right creating a shadow on the left. Freud and Bacon became friends in the 1950s. I think Freud has captured Bacon’s frown and eyes. The expression on his face is lifeless on the right and is animated but aggressive on the left.

Freud and Realism; For my 18th birthday I receives a book on Freud from a family friend who is Artist. It is one of those books I’ve been meaning to pick up for two years and finally once I move to London I read it and quickly learnt how brilliant Freud’s life and style was. Freuds early work was abstract and his later pieces were more focused on realism. One piece that I really like is ‘man’s head (self-portrait.) 1963’ this piece is oil on canvas and is currently in the Whitworth Gallery.

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Freud has been described by Robert Hughes as ‘the greatest living realist painter.’ I believe this is true.

A piece I think is completely beautiful is ‘interior with plants, reflection listening.’ It’s a self-portrait painted 1967/68. It’s a fairly large piece, square 121.8  x 121.8. This piece is weird and wacky in true Freud style however it has this lifelike feel which ties into the realism element. The piece is bright and colourful and I very much like this style. I like the white paint reflecting certain elements in bands and angles of the leaves. I also think there is a range of green tones which ranges from lime-green to amber and then back to incredibly dark green, where it almost looks black. The painting has a moving feel to it you can imagine the leaves flowing in the wind. Having Freud in the back left of the painting is slightly odd, you can see half his body and the rest is non-existent. His shoulders, head and right hand are very prominent. The background is very interesting. It’s a kind of brown which has been washed all over and smudged. On the far left is a strip of grey with gold tones. It’s really interesting how the composition works and how he’s framed the shot, the main focus being the small portrait and not the plant.

Another great piece ‘Reflection with two children (self-portrait) 1965.’ Oil on canvas 91.5 x 91.5cm. This piece shows Freud himself looking down at a mirror placed on the floor, painting tools are hidden, showing Freuds upper torso and head. He is wearing a suit which is a bluey grey. In the foreground are two children, one smiling, one gazing. Freud’s face has shy almost telling off expression on it. The use of tones to produce shadows and highlight different elements is simply fantastic. I do think his style of using bright white in fairly thick strokes is revolutionary and is now seen in a lot of artists work. This piece to me is just very pleasant and I would have on my wall. I wouldn’t say that about many portraits but then I guess this is a Freud so who am I kidding.

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‘Waste ground with houses, Paddington’ 1968/69. Oil on canvas. I really love paintings of buildings, personally I have never quite nailed it myself due to prospective, and I’m sure this is down to laziness. ‘Waste ground with houses, Paddington’ is very beautiful. I love townhouses in London, what I like about this painting is that it shows true London; showing the backs of houses, the rubbish and roofs that have turned into dumping sites. You can see sofas at the top of the buildings. The brushstrokes are not large but still visible, the perspective looks pretty perfect. I like the touch of tree in the back and the very light sky representing a fairly gloomy day in London I think the piece is delightful.

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‘Garden, Notting Hill Gate.’ Freud was said to be inspired by his friend John Constable. Freud said ‘I thought rather early on that then would be a dark, shadowy bits, but I realise later that I could sustain the drama that I wanted in the picture by - as I nearly always do giving all the information that I can.’

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Lucian Freud died in 2011 in London. I think it’s fair to say that he is one of the greatest realism artists of this century. His work/talent is unmatched in the quality. His style which has been developed over the years is outstanding.