Lucian Freud

1922–2011

Lucian Freud, ‘Girl with a White Dog’ 1950–1
Girl with a White Dog 1950–1
© Tate
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All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life

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Biography

Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draftsman, specializing in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewish architect Ernst L. Freud and the grandson of Sigmund Freud. His family moved to Britain in 1933 to escape the rise of Nazism. From 1942-43 he attended Goldsmiths College, London. He enlisted in the 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.

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School of London

Artworks

Lucian Freud, ‘Girl with a White Dog’ 1950–1

Lucian Freud Girl with a White Dog

1950–1
On display at Tate Britain part of All Too Human N06039
Lucian Freud, ‘Girl with a Kitten’ 1947

Lucian Freud Girl with a Kitten

1947
On display at Tate Britain part of All Too Human T12617
Lucian Freud, ‘Leigh Bowery’ 1991

Lucian Freud Leigh Bowery

1991
On display at Tate Britain part of All Too Human T06834
Lucian Freud, ‘Naked Portrait’ 1972–3

Lucian Freud Naked Portrait

1972–3
On display at Tate Britain part of All Too Human T01972
Lucian Freud, ‘The Painter’s Mother IV’ 1973

Lucian Freud The Painter’s Mother IV

1973
On display at Tate Britain part of All Too Human T12619
Lucian Freud, ‘Standing by the Rags’ 1988–9

Lucian Freud Standing by the Rags

1988–9
T05722
Lucian Freud, ‘Francis Bacon’ 1952

Lucian Freud Francis Bacon

1952
N06040
Lucian Freud, ‘David and Eli’ 2003–4

Lucian Freud David and Eli

2003–4
On display at Tate Britain part of All Too Human L03637
See all 36

Artist as subject

R.B. Kitaj, ‘The Wedding’ 1989–93

R.B. Kitaj The Wedding

1989–93
On display at Tate Britain part of All Too Human T06743
Lucian Freud, ‘Man with a Thistle (Self-Portrait)’ 1946

Lucian Freud Man with a Thistle (Self-Portrait)

1946
On display at Tate Britain part of All Too Human T00422
Sir Cedric Morris, Bt, ‘Lucian Freud’ 1941

Sir Cedric Morris, Bt Lucian Freud

1941
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art T03231
Helen Lessore, ‘Symposium I’ 1974–77

Helen Lessore Symposium I

1974–77
T03288
Sir Cedric Morris, Bt, recipient: Arthur Lett-Haines, ‘Telegram from Arthur Lett-Haines to Cedric Morris’ 8 November 1941

Sir Cedric Morris, Bt, recipient: Arthur Lett-Haines Telegram from Arthur Lett-Haines to Cedric Morris

8 November 1941
View by appointment TGA 8317/1/4/239
Sir Jacob Epstein, recipient: Peggy Jean Lewis, ‘Letter from Jacob Epstein to Peggy Jean’ 16 February [1955]

Sir Jacob Epstein, recipient: Peggy Jean Lewis Letter from Jacob Epstein to Peggy Jean

16 February [1955]
TGA 8716/39
Sir Jacob Epstein, recipient: Peggy Jean Lewis, ‘Letter from Jacob Epstein to Peggy Jean’ 4 September [1954]

Sir Jacob Epstein, recipient: Peggy Jean Lewis Letter from Jacob Epstein to Peggy Jean

4 September [1954]
TGA 8716/34
Sir Jacob Epstein, recipient: Peggy Jean Lewis, ‘Letter from Jacob Epstein to Peggy Jean’ 9 February [1959]

Sir Jacob Epstein, recipient: Peggy Jean Lewis Letter from Jacob Epstein to Peggy Jean

9 February [1959]
TGA 8716/53
Sir Jacob Epstein, recipient: Peggy Jean Lewis, ‘Letter from Jacob Epstein to Peggy Jean’ 17 January [1955]

Sir Jacob Epstein, recipient: Peggy Jean Lewis Letter from Jacob Epstein to Peggy Jean

17 January [1955]
TGA 8716/38
See all 12

Film and audio

Unlock Art: Great Double Acts
Watch

Unlock Art: Great Double Acts

Rock band The Kills  jump on a tandem to explore the art of collaboration

Unlock Art: A Brief History of Art Undressed
Watch

Unlock Art: A Brief History of Art Undressed

Television presenter and writer Dawn O'Porter takes us on a whistle-stop tour of nudity in art, from its origins ...

Listen

Late at Tate November: Behind the scenes. Sight: Gillian Cutbill

Gillian Cutbill, a Tate guide who presents audio descriptions for blind and partially sighted visitors, is describing Freud's Standing ...

Features

John William Waterhouse, ‘The Lady of Shalott’ 1888
In the Gallery

A Queer Walk Through British Art

Discover queer responses to our collection at Tate Britain, curated by members of the LGBTQ+ community at Tate and beyond
List

Five Ways to Paint a Body

Explore different approaches to depicting the human figure through the work of five great British artists

Pablo Picasso, ‘Weeping Woman’ 1937
Art Term

Figurative art

Figurative art describes any form of modern art that retains strong references to the real world and particularly to the ...

Francis Bacon, ‘Triptych August 1972’ 1972
Art Term

School of London

School of London was a term invented by artist R.B. Kitaj to describe a group of London-based artists who ...

Birthday card from Frank Auerbach to Lucian Freud
Read

Frank Auerbach - through the eyes of Lucian Freud

With a display of Frank Auerbach works collected by his great friend Lucian Freud currently at Tate Britain, we kick ...

Frank Auerbach (b.1931) Rebuilding the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square 1962 © Frank Auerbach
Press Release

Frank Auerbach works from Lucian Freud Estate displayed at Tate Britain

26 Aug 2014
Frank Auerbach works from Lucian Freud Estate displayed at Tate Britain
Lucian Freud, Girl in a Striped Nightshirt 1983-5
Tate Etc

Lucian Freud's Girl in a Striped Nightshirt: Tate Etc. at Tate Britain / Artists' Perspectives

In celebration of the reopening of Tate Britain, Tate Etc. invited a selection of artists from around the world to ...

Lucian Freud, ‘Girl with a White Dog’ 1950–1
Blog

Work of the week: Girl with a White Dog by Lucian Freud

8 December 2012 marks 90 years since the birth of Lucian Freud and this week's Work  of the Week ...

Front of postcard sent by Lucian Freud to Elsie Nicholson in the summer of 1943
Tate Etc

Wish you were here: Behind the curtain

On a visit to the Tate Archive, Susie Gauntlett discovers a postcard written by a young Lucian Freud.

Edward Burra, ‘Harlem’ 1934
Tate Etc

A Rye view: Edward Burra

He had six paintings in London’s International Surrealist Exhibition in 1936, but was never formally a surrealist. His work ...

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