Painter and model (1986-1987) by Lucian Freud

Painter and model - Lucian Freud - 1986 - 1987

Artwork Information

TitlePainter and model
ArtistLucian Freud
Date1986 - 1987
MediumOil on Canvas
Dimensions159.6 x 120.7 cm
Art MovementExpressionism
Current LocationPrivate Collection
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About Painter and model

Lucian Freud was a revolutionary artist known for his work in portraiture and the nude. Born in Berlin, Germany, he was the grandson of Sigmund Freud, a renowned psychologist. He developed a highly individual style characterized by impasto, where pigment is applied thickly to achieve texture and depth. Freud’s neo-figurative portraits and self-portraits were expressive and intense.

Influenced by fellow British painter Francis Bacon, Freud’s artistic career spanned nearly seven decades in which time he produced some of the greatest portrait paintings of the 20th century. His portraits often depicted bodies rarely given space elsewhere: fat bodies, queer bodies, ageing bodies and exhausted ones.

One of Lucian’s most poignant works was created about five years before his death in 2011. Painter And Model (2005) is one of several paintings that depict him with his clothing on or off alongside models who appear to be strangers rather than family members as they once were in earlier works. In this particular painting both Freud and model Annabel Principle appear matter-of-fact; there are no signs here of tension or drama between them nor do they engage with one another’s gaze hence creating an air of professional detachment. The uninspiring background accentuates further the focus on just two forms stretched out on a nondescript sofa while contrasting textures create subtle rhythms throughout emphasising emotional distances crucial to understanding Freud’s skill as both painter and storyteller.

Freud approached paint handling with direct techniques often without previous draftsmanship resulting in unique marks seen clearly at close proximity revealing intentional yet raw hand gestures zigzagging across each surface giving evidence that this was not mechanical replication but instead autonomous response from painterly personality onto canvas that so keenly reflected society around him – especially when dealing against normative assumptions regarding ideal bodies deserving attention or even hope for existence beyond stigmatization set against patriarchalism very present still today under our collective skin despite supposed progress made since then.

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