Lucian Freud – An Unforgettable Genius…
Lucian Freud…
An extraordinary man.
I often fantasized about being painted – by the great one.
Having his amazingly skillful hands, with his miraculous paint brush, his formidable, sharp, and penetrating gaze, and intense observation – studying my every curve, every line – was to me an intellectual and artistic thrill.
“I paint people”, Freud said, “not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be”.
Unfortunately, my fantasy will never be fulfilled…
Freud died recently aged 88 in London.
Lucian Freud was born in Berlin of an Austrian Jewish father and a German Jewish mother.
He was the grandson of Sigmund Freud.
He moved with his family to London to escape the rise of Nazism and became a British citizen – living and working in London for the rest of his life – except for frequent stays in Dublin, a visit to Paris, and several months in Greece.
My greatest fascination with Freud was his work in portraiture… mostly nudes, which were typically painted in muted colours.
His portraits remind me of the “Portrait of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde, when by his “omnivorous” gaze, he would bring out and capture his model’s character, individuality, and reveal hidden secrets – ageing, ugliness, faults – that were hidden from the subject he was painting.
To be subjected to and painted by this Iconic Artist…
One had to possess loads of courage.
To be exposed…
To be revealed…
To give away… one’s secrets.
It’s not for the faint-hearted.
But it’s all in the name of ART…
It is worth every minute – to be in the brilliant gaze of this most talented of Artists.
Freud’s subjects were mostly of friends, family, and fellow painters, as well as lovers, children…
“The subject matter is autobiographical – it’s all to do with hope and memory and sensuality and 
involvement, really”.
Freud spent a huge amount of time with his subject. A nude would require up to sixteen months of work.
A rapport with his model was of the utmost importance to him.
Although criticized for having a cold, cold, heart – he was curiously and charmingly characterized as an “outstanding raconteur and mimic”.
Rumoured to have fathered more than fourteen children from different mothers, it is amazing how well adjusted his progeny are and how lacking in bitterness they all turned out to be…
His daughter was quoted as saying: “My Dad was an artist – that was his passion and that came first. We respected that.”
Unconditional respect.
Much should be forgiven the man regarded as – the foremost British artist of his time.
Lucian Freud…
Romantic…
Good looking…
Finely chiseled…
Enigmatic…
Charismatic…
Iconic…
Almost hypnotic.
Malgré tout…
Oh… how I would have…
Adored…
To have been painted by him…
Faults and all.
Lucian Freud…
An unforgettable…
Genius.
a.