A significant publication of original writing on Lucian Freud, including interviews with leading contemporary artists, marking the 100th anniversary of his birth

Lucian Freud (1922–2011) was one of the greatest figurative painters of the twentieth century. With an unflinching eye and an uncompromising commitment to his work, he created masterpieces that continue to inspire contemporary artists to the present day.

Spanning nearly 70 years, Freud’s career has often been overshadowed by his biography and celebrity. This book re-examines his paintings through a broad series of original approaches. Texts by a variety of rising and established international writers explore topics ranging from the compositional echoes of old master paintings in Freud’s works, to the contextualization of his practice within the class struggles of 1980s Britain. Throughout the book, leading contemporary painters such as Tracey Emin and Chantal Joffe give insightful testimony to the relevance of Freud today.

Marking the 100th anniversary of Freud’s birth, this publication accompanies the first major exhibition of his work in 10 years. Presenting fresh perspectives on his paintings, it introduces Freud to a new generation of scholars and enthusiasts – demonstrating his lasting international importance.

Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press 

Exhibition Schedule:

The National Gallery, London
October 1, 2022–January 22, 2023

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
February 14–June 18, 2023

About the Author:

Daniel F. Herrmann is Curator of Modern & Contemporary Projects at the National Gallery, London.

Unflinching truth. Portraits which scrutinized beneath the skin

Lucian Freud (1922–2011) was interested in the telling of truth. Always operating outside the main currents of 20th-century art, the esteemed portrait painter observed his subjects with the regimen and precision of a laboratory scientist. He recorded not only the blotches, bruises, and swellings of the living body, but also, beneath the flaws and folds of flesh, the microscopic details of what lies within: the sensation, the emotion, the intelligence, the bloom, and the inevitable, unstoppable decay.

Despite rejecting parallels between him and his renowned grandfather, the correlation between Lucian Freud's sitting process for portraiture and Sigmund Freud's psychotherapy sessions is a fascinating element to this figurative oeuvre. Despite the thickness of the impasto surfaces, Freud's portraits of subjects as varied as the Queen, Kate Moss, and an obese job center supervisor, penetrate the physicality of the body with a direct and often disarming insight. The result is as much a psychological interrogation as it is an uneasy examination of the relationship between artist and model.

This book brings together some of Freud's most outstanding and unapologetic portraits, to introduce an artist widely considered one of the finest masters of the human form.

About the series:

Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series features:

 - a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
 - a concise biography
 - approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

The exhibition catalogue of Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits, which opens at the RA in October 2019. Expert authors – including those who knew and worked with Freud – reveal an approach to the genre that is both unexpected and intriguing.

This 152-page hardback catalogue was published to accompany the exhibition Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits at the Royal Academy of Arts, 27 October 2019 to 26 January 2020.

The first to focus on Freud’s self-portraits, the book provides a fascinating insight into the psyche of this enigmatic yet extremely private artist. Expert authors David Dawson, Joseph Leo Koerner, Jasper Sharp and Sebastian Smee reflect on Freud’s place within the history of self-portraiture and the role self-portraits play within his wider oeuvre.

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In 1964 Lucian Freud set his students at the Norwich College of Art an assignment: to paint naked self-portraits and to make them 'revealing, telling, believable... really shameless'. It was advice that the artist was often to follow himself. Visceral, unflinching and often nude, Freud's self-portraits give us an insight into the development of his style as a painter. The works provide the viewer with a constant reminder of the artist's overwhelming presence, whether he is confronting the viewer directly or only present as a shadow or in a reflection.

Essays by leading authorities - including those who knew him well - explore Freud's life and work, and analyse the importance of self-portraiture in his practice and the intensity that he maintained when studying his own.

Accompanies an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (27 October 2019 to 26 January 2020) and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (22 February to 25 May 2020). Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

About the Authors:

David Dawson is a painter and photographer, and Freud's former studio assistant. Joseph Leo Koerner is the Thomas Professor of History of Art and Architecture and Senior Fellow of the Society of Fellows, Harvard University. Jasper Sharp is Adjunct Curator for Modern and Contemporary Art at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. The Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic Sebastian Smee is author of The Art of Rivalry: Four Friendships, Betrayals and Breakthroughs in Modern Art (2016).

A sumptuous single-volume edition of Phaidon's acclaimed overview of one of the greatest painters of our time

Larger-than-life British artist Lucian Freud enjoyed a career lasting over seven decades. He worked almost until the day he died, when he left a portrait of friend and studio assistant David Dawson unfinished.

Now available for the first time in one elegantly combined edition, this acclaimed celebration of Freud's work from the 1930s to his death in 2011 includes hundreds of paintings, drawings, sketches, and etchings - even personal photographs and illustrated private letters.

A comprehensive overview of his life and work in one luxurious volume, this book is a gorgeous addition to the shelves of art lovers everywhere. Created in collaboration with the Lucian Freud Archive and David Dawson, Director of the Archive, and edited by Mark Holborn.

About the Authors:

Martin Gayford is a writer and art critic for The Spectator magazine. He sat for a portrait by Freud, an experience recounted in Man with a Blue Scarf (2010).

Painter David Dawson is represented by Marlborough Fine Art, London. Freud's assistant from 1991 until his death, he was a frequent model for his paintings.

Mark Holborn is an editor, designer, and writer who has worked with many leading artists over the last 30 years.

Intimate portraits from one of the most innovative figurative artists of the twentieth century and the master of painted flesh.

Curated by the artist's longtime studio assistant and friend, David Dawson, this important volume features twenty major and rarely seen paintings by Lucian Freud (1922-2011). The book begins with works from 1990 when Freud began painting the performance artist Leigh Bowery: these large-scale portraits of Bowery ushered in a new sense of monumentality in the artist's oeuvre. Inspired by Bowery's impressive physique, Freud began working on a larger scale, which emphasized the physical presence of his subjects. Despite their grand scale, Freud's subjects are still depicted with a sense of intimacy, penetrating honesty, and psychological depth.

The naked body is a subject that has special significance in Freud's oeuvre. Nakedness was a way for Freud to get a more truthful portrait. Freud's probing oils get fresh consideration in this monograph and Dawson provides insights and stories about Freud working on these portraits, giving an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at the life of a contemporary master of representational art.

About the Author

David Dawson is a painter who worked with Lucian Freud for twenty-five years. He is the author of A Life with Lucian Freud. 

Philippe de Montebello is a director of Acquavella Galleries in New York, focusing on special exhibitions and publications. Montebello was the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from 1977 to 2008.

'Everything is autobiographical and everything is a portrait, even if it's only a chair.'

Portraits were central to the work of Lucian Freud.

Working only from life, the artist claimed 'I could never put anything into a picture that wasn't actually there in front of me.' Lucian Freud Portraits surveys his portraits and figure paintings from across his long career. Drawing together the finest portraits from public and private collections around the world, the book explores Freud's stylistic development and technical virtuosity. A series of previously unpublished interviews conducted by Michael Auping between May 2009 and January 2011 reveal the artist's thoughts on the complex relationship between artist and sitter, the particular challenges of painting nudes and self-portraits, and his views on other painters he admired.

Freud's psychological portraits are often imbued with a mood of alienation. A private man, the artist's close relationship with his sitters was played out behind the closed door of the studio. Frequently there is the sense of an emotionally charged drama unfolding, but his subjects remain elusive. Sitters represented in the book include family members, particularly his mother, Lucie, and artists such as Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon and David Hockney. In the early 1990s Freud produced a series of monumental paintings of the performance artist Leigh Bowery and Bowery's friend Sue Tilley, the 'benefits supervisor', examples of which are reproduced in this book.

Authoritative survey of more than 130 works, accompanying the first major exhibition focussed on seven decades of Freud's portraits.

Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London (9 February-27 May 2012) and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas (2 July-28 October 2012). Includes new, illuminating interviews with Freud by Michael Auping. Contribution by John Richardson (friend of Freud and biographer of Picasso). Features an illustrated chronology of Freud's life. Essay and interviews with Lucian Freud by Michael Auping With a contribution by John Richardson This book accompanies the National Portrait Gallery's major Spring 2012 exhibition on Lucian Freud Portraits and the subsequent tour to Fort Worth, Texas in July 2012

Lucian Freud Portraits surveys his portraits and figure paintings from across his long career.

Drawing together the finest portraits from public and private collections around the world, the book explores Freuds stylistic development and technical virtuosity. A series of previously unpublished interviews conducted by Michael Auping between May 2009 and January 2011 reveals the artists thoughts on the complex relationship between artist and sitter, the particular challenges of painting nudes and self-portraits, and his views on other painters he admired.

Freuds psychological portraits are often imbued with a mood of alienation. A private man, the artists close relationship with his sitters was played out behind the closed door of the studio. Frequently there is the sense of an emotionally charged drama unfolding, but his subjects remain elusive. Sitters represented in the book include family members, particularly his mother, Lucie, and artists such as Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon and David Hockney. In the early 1990s Freud produced a series of monumental paintings of the performance artist Leigh Bowery and Bowerys friend Sue Tilley, the benefits supervisor, examples of which are reproduced in this book.

British artist Lucian Freud is widely considered the most important figurative painter working today. Master portraitist and specialist in nudes, Freud uses impasto to create depth and intensity while restraining his color palate to mostly muted hues. His portraits may be physically unflattering to their subjects, but they are honest, frank, and unapologetic. "I paint people," Freud has said, "not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be."