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Lucian Freud
Now in his eightieth year, Lucian Freud is widely regarded as one of the greatest living painters. Over six decades, he has redefined portraiture and the nude, producing works of extraordinary vitality and presence. His subjects are often friends, family, fellow painters, lovers, and children. "I paint people," he has said, "not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be."
Born in Berlin in 1922, Freud came to England with his family in 1933. Along with his friend Francis Bacon, he rose to prominence in London in the 1950s. He has lived and worked in the city ever since.
Published to accompany the largest retrospective of Freud's work to date, which travels from Tate Britain in London to Fundacio "la Caixa" in Barcelona and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, this lavishly illustrated book brings together key works from his entire career, including over 180 paintings, etchings and drawings, some not previously published.
Designed in close collaboration with the artist, the book includes an essay by the writer and curator William Feaver, a contribution by the painter Frank Auerbach, and a detailed bibliography.
Born in Berlin in 1922, Freud came to England with his family in 1933. Along with his friend Francis Bacon, he rose to prominence in London in the 1950s. He has lived and worked in the city ever since.
Published to accompany the largest retrospective of Freud's work to date, which travels from Tate Britain in London to Fundacio "la Caixa" in Barcelona and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, this lavishly illustrated book brings together key works from his entire career, including over 180 paintings, etchings and drawings, some not previously published.
Designed in close collaboration with the artist, the book includes an essay by the writer and curator William Feaver, a contribution by the painter Frank Auerbach, and a detailed bibliography.
- GenresArtNonfiction
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
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About the author
Lucian Freud
58 books8 followersLucian Michael Freud was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewish architect Ernst L. Freud and the grandson of Sigmund Freud. Freud got his first name "Lucian" from his mother in memory of the ancient writer Lucian of Samosata. His family moved to England in 1933, when he was 10 years old, to escape the rise of Nazism. He became a British naturalized citizen in 1939. From 1942 to 1943 he attended Goldsmiths College, London. He served at sea with the British Merchant Navy during the Second World War.
His early career as a painter was influenced by surrealism, but by the early 1950s his often stark and alienated paintings tended towards realism. Freud was an intensely private and guarded man, and his paintings, completed over a 60-year career, are mostly of friends and family. They are generally sombre and thickly impastoed, often set in unsettling interiors and urban landscapes. The works are noted for their psychological penetration and often discomforting examination of the relationship between artist and model. Freud worked from life studies, and was known for asking for extended and punishing sittings from his models.
His early career as a painter was influenced by surrealism, but by the early 1950s his often stark and alienated paintings tended towards realism. Freud was an intensely private and guarded man, and his paintings, completed over a 60-year career, are mostly of friends and family. They are generally sombre and thickly impastoed, often set in unsettling interiors and urban landscapes. The works are noted for their psychological penetration and often discomforting examination of the relationship between artist and model. Freud worked from life studies, and was known for asking for extended and punishing sittings from his models.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 22, 2011
Lucian Freud: Ave Atque Vale
From the news release: 'Lucian Freud, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest, most influential and yet most controversial British painters of his era, has died at his London home. News of his death, at the age of 88, was released by his New York art dealer, William Acquavella. The realist painter, who was a grandson of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, had watched his works soar in value over recent years and, in 2008, his portrayal of a large, naked woman on a couch - Benefits Supervisor Sleeping - sold at auction for £17m, a record price for the work of a living artist. Born in Berlin, Freud came to Britain in 1933 with his family when he was 10 years old and developed his passion for drawing. After studying at art school, he had a self-portrait accepted for Horizon magazine and, by the age of 21, his talent had been recognised in a solo show. He returned to Britain after the war years to teach at the Slade School of Art in London. Over a career that spanned 50 years, Freud became famous for his intense and unsettling nude portraits. A naturalised British subject, he spent most of his working life in London and was frequently seen at the most salubrious bars and restaurants, often in the company of beautiful young women such as Kate Moss, who he once painted. A tweet from the writer Polly Samson last night reported that Freud's regular table in The Wolseley restaurant was laid with a black tablecloth and a single candle in his honour.'
The director of the Tate gallery, Nicholas Serota, said last night: "The vitality of [Freud's] nudes, the intensity of the still life paintings and the presence of his portraits of family and friends guarantee Lucian Freud a unique place in the pantheon of late 20th century art. His early paintings redefined British art and his later works stand comparison with the great figurative painters of any period.' And surely anyone who has had the privilege of standing before Lucian Freud's art in museum exhibitions will attest to the power of his work. Freud, as much as any painter of the figure today, observed the model not only as a posed subject, but also as a representation of humanity. Often his models were massively overweight as though excess flesh was enchanting to him. But no matter how we each see Freud's work, it does impact us in a visceral way. From his very tiny portrait of Francis bacon's head to the memorable portrait of Queen Elizabeth II to the multiple images of the Leigh Bowery 'portfolio' or his infamous 'Benefits Supervisor Sleeping', his ability to sculpt with paintbrush and palette knife was extraordinary.
This book gives a fairly wide spectrum of the artist's output, though it is in no way complete. Freud's output was enormous - in size and in quantity - and we are left with the works of an artist who will always be remembered for his bravery and even audacity to paint what he saw coupled with what he felt. as art critic Tim Marlow stated 'Freud was a very special man. He looked at the world was as if he was painting it but when you saw his paintings you saw how he really saw it.' He will be much missed.
Grady Harp
From the news release: 'Lucian Freud, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest, most influential and yet most controversial British painters of his era, has died at his London home. News of his death, at the age of 88, was released by his New York art dealer, William Acquavella. The realist painter, who was a grandson of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, had watched his works soar in value over recent years and, in 2008, his portrayal of a large, naked woman on a couch - Benefits Supervisor Sleeping - sold at auction for £17m, a record price for the work of a living artist. Born in Berlin, Freud came to Britain in 1933 with his family when he was 10 years old and developed his passion for drawing. After studying at art school, he had a self-portrait accepted for Horizon magazine and, by the age of 21, his talent had been recognised in a solo show. He returned to Britain after the war years to teach at the Slade School of Art in London. Over a career that spanned 50 years, Freud became famous for his intense and unsettling nude portraits. A naturalised British subject, he spent most of his working life in London and was frequently seen at the most salubrious bars and restaurants, often in the company of beautiful young women such as Kate Moss, who he once painted. A tweet from the writer Polly Samson last night reported that Freud's regular table in The Wolseley restaurant was laid with a black tablecloth and a single candle in his honour.'
The director of the Tate gallery, Nicholas Serota, said last night: "The vitality of [Freud's] nudes, the intensity of the still life paintings and the presence of his portraits of family and friends guarantee Lucian Freud a unique place in the pantheon of late 20th century art. His early paintings redefined British art and his later works stand comparison with the great figurative painters of any period.' And surely anyone who has had the privilege of standing before Lucian Freud's art in museum exhibitions will attest to the power of his work. Freud, as much as any painter of the figure today, observed the model not only as a posed subject, but also as a representation of humanity. Often his models were massively overweight as though excess flesh was enchanting to him. But no matter how we each see Freud's work, it does impact us in a visceral way. From his very tiny portrait of Francis bacon's head to the memorable portrait of Queen Elizabeth II to the multiple images of the Leigh Bowery 'portfolio' or his infamous 'Benefits Supervisor Sleeping', his ability to sculpt with paintbrush and palette knife was extraordinary.
This book gives a fairly wide spectrum of the artist's output, though it is in no way complete. Freud's output was enormous - in size and in quantity - and we are left with the works of an artist who will always be remembered for his bravery and even audacity to paint what he saw coupled with what he felt. as art critic Tim Marlow stated 'Freud was a very special man. He looked at the world was as if he was painting it but when you saw his paintings you saw how he really saw it.' He will be much missed.
Grady Harp
March 27, 2016
It is a trite enough sentiment that I'm sure its been said before, but between Sigmund and Lucian, the grandson is the more acutely aware psychological observer of the two. Sigmund Freud listened to his patients, prodded with intimate questions in search of more intimate answers, then reduced his findings to the data which would sustain his revolutionary theories on the workings of the human mind. Lucian watched his subjects, his models, many of whom he knew, and painted them. Not since the Neue Sachlichkeit artists of the twenties and thirties, particularly Otto Dix, Max Beckmann, and George Grosz, had portraiture been so brutally vivid in its' psychological complexity. Interestingly, Freuds' initial reaction to 'The New Objectivism' was one of utter scorn and repulsion, owing more to a general aversion to all things German than any true artistic dislike.
William Feaver and the books' publisher, Rizzoli, have produced an informative and beautiful volume that sheds light on the biographical and artistic development of one of 20th century Englands' greatest painters. Only Francis Bacon, his friend and occasional model, is considered to be more important. With a long career spanning several decades, Feaver has selected hundreds of Freuds' key works from every stage of his oeuvre, providing a visual feast for new admirers and old. Clothbound covers with gilt-embossed text, highest quality paper-stock, unassailable hi-res reproductions, and a stylish cloth-ended slipcase all contribute to make this 10.25" x 12.25", 488 page monograph a must-have for any artbook enthusiast interested in the art of Lucian Freud.
William Feaver and the books' publisher, Rizzoli, have produced an informative and beautiful volume that sheds light on the biographical and artistic development of one of 20th century Englands' greatest painters. Only Francis Bacon, his friend and occasional model, is considered to be more important. With a long career spanning several decades, Feaver has selected hundreds of Freuds' key works from every stage of his oeuvre, providing a visual feast for new admirers and old. Clothbound covers with gilt-embossed text, highest quality paper-stock, unassailable hi-res reproductions, and a stylish cloth-ended slipcase all contribute to make this 10.25" x 12.25", 488 page monograph a must-have for any artbook enthusiast interested in the art of Lucian Freud.
March 14, 2008
The essay by Feaver isn't the most in depth look into Freud's oeuvre (I've never actually used that word before), but the reproductions are beautiful.
December 1, 2019
Horrid man, genius artist. Horribly intelligent, emotionally warped. Fascinating and confused by their changeling family, glamourous but seedy London. This book brilliantly lays out so many of the dramatic tensions that bubbled merrily away throughout Freud's life, but never shies away from the fundamental truth - he was a great, great artist who made his art his priority in every way and never made the fact nothing else really mattered much to him. Feaver spent much of his life listening to Freud and somehow not only managed to stick with him but to get the life down on paper. This book does the best job yet of explaining Freud's motivations and how his life influenced his work. Oh, heck, Freud would have scoffed at anyone trying or caring enough about "getting" him - if they couldn't get his art, there was no point. A thrilling read.
August 20, 2025
*4 stars*
The earlier works (until about page 70) were not my favorite, but once the portraits and nude studies started, I could appreciate how spectacular the artwork became. The brush strokes appeared more pronounced and there was more flavor in the pieces. I really enjoyed the compositions, likeness, blending of color, and the positioning.
The earlier works (until about page 70) were not my favorite, but once the portraits and nude studies started, I could appreciate how spectacular the artwork became. The brush strokes appeared more pronounced and there was more flavor in the pieces. I really enjoyed the compositions, likeness, blending of color, and the positioning.
August 25, 2020
Just a couple of quotes from the short text, based on interviews with the painter.
p18 I’ve got a strong autobiographical bias. My work is entirely about myself and my surroundings.
p33 Art is an Escape from Personality (sic)
p18 I’ve got a strong autobiographical bias. My work is entirely about myself and my surroundings.
p33 Art is an Escape from Personality (sic)
November 9, 2022
I adore Freud's paintings, and this was a very comprehensive and beautiful book giving information on his life and his most famous works as well as a catalogue of his work chronologically and with context.
May 10, 2020
Beautiful book, with great accompanying text.
(my copy was missing a color plate. I'm interested if any other purchasers/readers found the same flaw.)
(my copy was missing a color plate. I'm interested if any other purchasers/readers found the same flaw.)
March 19, 2021
His portraits captures life in such a remarkable way, beautiful and awkward at the same time.
November 15, 2023
An absolutely stunning collection. Some of the best portrait paintings that I've ever seen in my life.
January 21, 2008
I was and still am very influenced by Lucian Freud, less so now than when I first picked this book up. Great images and very informative on the life of the artist.
April 4, 2013
Maravillosa edicion del trabajo de Lucian Freud.
December 4, 2013
Beautifully curated and annotated, well printed. The medium drains the texture but the lines are astonishing.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews