Marking the centenary of the artist’s birth, this exhibition at the National Gallery, London (1 October–22 January 2023), charts Freud’s prolific career over the course of seven decades to consider how, with his dogged dedication to the genre of portraiture, the painter always flew in the face of shifting post-war art orthodoxies such as abstraction. The show delves into the artist’s fascination with the relationship between artist and model – a constant preoccupation, whether his models were family members or celebrities. Works on show include Bella and Esther (1988), depicting the artist’s teenage daughters, and the early work Girl with a Kitten (1947) – a punning portrait of his wife, Kathleen (Kitty) Garman; among the other highlights are the famous nude self-portrait Painter Working, Reflection (1993). Looking beyond Freud’s own celebrity, the exhibition also explores his admiration for the history of European figurative painting by highlighting how the artist’s compositions borrow from Old Masters; early portraits such as Woman with a Tulip (1945) are reminiscent of Hans Holbein, while Freud worked in the manner of court painters such as Rubens for the portrait of his most famous sitter, Her Majesty the Queen (1999–2001). Find out more from the National Gallery’s website.
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Reflection with Two Children (Self-portrait) (1964), Lucian Freud. Photo: Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid; © The Lucian Freud Archive/Bridgeman Images
Bella and Esther (1988), Lucian Freud. Private Collection. © The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved 2022/Bridgeman Images
Head of a Girl (1962), Lucian Freud. Private Collection. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth Collection Services; © The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved 2022/Bridgeman Images
Painting Working, Reflection (1993), Lucian Freud. Newhouse Collection. © The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved 2022/Bridgeman Images
Her Majesty The Queen (2000–01), Lucian Freud. Courtesy Royal Collection/HM Queen Elizabeth II; © The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved 2022/Bridgeman Images