Lucian Freud
Born – Berlin, Germany 1922
The grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund, Lucian Freud came to England in 1932. He studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London, (1938-1939) and at the East Anglian School of Paintings and Drawings, Suffolk until 1942. He then went on to study part-time at Goldsmith’s College, London. Freud’s early work was in a harsh, realistic style, but painted with a flatness that lent emphasis to lineation. Quirky, surreal elements infiltrated his portraits and still life. An unnerving distortion and washed-out palette added to their potent charge. From the late 1950s, Freud’s style began to alter, to satisfy his need for paint “to work as flesh does.” In his dedication to the human form, Freud has been bracketed as a painter of the School of London. However, his personal approach to his subjects – his mother, his daughters, friends and life models – is completely original. His paintings are expressions, their moods and their discomfort under scrutiny. Standing By the Rags reveals how his paint-work has become increasingly impastoed, almost as if he is moulding or sculpting from the very substance of what it is to be human.
Masterpieces:
- Girl with Roses
- Naked Man With His Friend
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.