Deutscher and Hackett

Considered one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, Lucian Freud's powerful and mesmerising work continues to capture the attention and imagination of a global audience. Known primarily as a figurative painter, his 'naked portraits' in thick impasto are typically confronting in their rawness but captivating for their psychological penetration.

The grandson of Sigmund Freud, the psychological investigation inherent in Lucian Freud's work may be a family trait. Even his earliest works show an interest in surrealism and it is this sense of concentration, an altered state or heightened reality, which is central to his entire body of work. He has said, 'The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real.'

Freud has often explained that his work is purely autobiographical.'It is about myself and my surroundings. It is an attempt at a record. I work from people that interest me, and that I care about and think about, in rooms that I live in and know.'¹ This care and depth of concentration is legendary with many of those who have sat for the artist describing a process of piercing scrutiny lasting for months, a process which can be exhausting for both subject and artist. So it is following a period of sustained contact with his portrait subjects that a few key works such as Garden in Winter, a depiction of the artist's garden at Holland Park in London, emerge, in a way as a retreat into a solitary contemplation. 'The subject matter has always been dictated by the way my life has gone. I noticed when I was under particular strain, I didn't feel so like staring at bodies all day. I preferred working in complete isolation.'²

Unlike his etchings of portraits or naked portraits which are focused views of the sitter, mostly surrounded by clear space, in Garden in Winter Freud embarked on a remarkably ambitious and complex work in which the large scale plate is worked completely from edge to edge, with each mark carrying an equal value and no focal point on which to rest. So great was the aim and so demanding of attention to detail, the artist drew the image on the copper plate over two winters, without disturbing that area of his garden for the duration of the process. Regularly consulting his master printer Marc Balakjian throughout the period to ensure technical aspects of the printing process could faithfully transfer his vision from copper to paper, Garden in Winter is an example of virtuosity in etching.

1. The artist quoted in Smee, S., Freud, Taschen, Cologne, 2011, p. 7
2. Figura, S., Lucian Freud, The Painter's Etchings, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2008, p. 32