Relentless portraiture and laboratory-like precision. Explore the work of famed figurative painter Lucian Freud, a master of the human form who portrayed models as diverse as the Queen of England, Kate Moss and a bulky, naked employment office supervisor with the same candid style and psychological rigour. Direct and candid, Freud's portraits go beyond the flaws and folds of flesh to reveal what lies within.

The true essence

Portraits that dig beneath the skin

Lucian Freud (1922-2011) was interested in showing the truth. Always outside the main artistic currents of the 20th century, the esteemed portraitist observed his models with the rigour and precision of a scientist in his laboratory. He captured not only the stains, bruises and swellings of the body, but also the microscopic details beneath the defects and folds of the flesh: sensation, emotion, intelligence, splendour and the inevitable and unstoppable decay.

Despite his rejection of parallels between himself and his famous grandfather, the correlation between Lucian Freud's portrait-painting process and Sigmund Freud's psychotherapy sessions is a fascinating element of this figurative work. Despite the thickness of the surfaces in the impasto technique, Freud's portraits of figures as disparate as the Queen of England, Kate Moss and an obese employment office supervisor go beyond the physical with unmistakable and often overwhelming insight. The result is a psychological study as well as a disturbing examination of the relationship between artist and model.

This book brings together Freud's most famous and unforgiving portraits, revealing an artist considered by many to be one of the greatest masters of the human form.

• Pages: 96
• Language: English
• Author: Sebastian Smee
• Year: 2019
• MODEL: 9783836560634

Publisher: Taschen