Few 20th-century British artists created work as instantly recognisable as Lucian Freud, whose realist nudes became defining images of contemporary portraiture when they began appearing in the 1950s. 2018 has already seen one major celebration of Freud in Tate Britain's All Too Human exhibition, which displays his work alongside that of his contemporaries Francis Bacon and Frank Auerbach. When that exhibition finishes at the end of August, Freud-devotees will have another chance to delve deep into the artist's life and work with a major new publication by Phaidon.
The two-volume book will provide a comprehensive view of Freud's life, from his family's escape to London from Nazi Germany in the 1930s, to his death in 2011. Private correspondence and essays by friends and experts will offer unparalleled insight into his eventful personal life and the development of his art. The book will also include more than 480 illustrations, with most of Freud's artworks newly photographed for the occasion. For those most familiar with Freud from his later works, the book will provide a chance to see his earlier and lesser-known works, from his early drawings and linocuts, through the Expressionist-influenced portraits of the 1940s, and beyond into the last works of his life. His last, unfinished painting, is printed here for the first time.
Among those who have contributed to the volume are Martin Gayford, a writer and art critic for The Spectator magazine. He sat for a portrait by Freud in 2003–5, an experience he recounted in Man with a Blue Scarf (2010). Painter David Dawson was Freud’s assistant from 1991 until his death, and a frequent model for his paintings, and has also written about his experiences with the artist.
'Lucian Freud', edited by Mark Holborn, will be published by Phaidon on September 7, 2018 (£395.00)
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