ANALYTICAL REVIEW OF LUCIAN FREUDS WORK

Lucian Freud is considered one of the greatest figurative painters of our time, specialising in nude life-drawn paintings his work has built him a reputation amongst the best.

Using oil paints on canvas, Freud intends his paintings to ‘avoid colour’ and sees life drawing as more of a transaction, working very personally with the model rather than just simply painting them.

"I don't want any colour to be noticeable... I don't want it to operate in the modernist sense as colour, something independent... Full, saturated colours have an emotional significance I want to avoid."

Freud’s’ working method is very lengthy and Freud insists on the model being present even whilst working on the stationary elements of the image. One of Freud’s paintings took an estimated 2400 hours (100 days) to complete with the model being present to all but four of his ‘sittings’.

"I want paint to work as flesh... my portraits to be of the people, not like them. Not having a look of the sitter, being them ... As far as I am concerned the paint is the person. I want it to work for me just as flesh does."

Freud never flatters his models, and paints the truth. Freud paints what he sees, not what he wants you to see.

 Freud’s painting ‘After Cézanne’ is well-known for its unusual shape. The top left section of the painting appears to have been attached to the much larger, main canvas. Being considered one of the best British painters of our time, Freuds’ work can be seen in exhibitions and galleries worldwide.

In 1977 Freud’s subject focus shifted to males, proceeding to paint several clothed portraits of males often with downcast eyes often sitting or lying. Freud grew extraordinarily concerned with the realistic male form. Rather than painting a man ageless and frozen, Freud instead presents one stopped along his way, captured for a moment in quiet repose.

Freuds’ work is much easier on the eye and considerably more subtle than the work of Jenny Saville. Savilles approach is much harsher and fleshy compared to Freuds’, calm photo-realistic paintings. Freuds’ style is much more of the painting as a whole, including the environment whereas Saville tends to focus entirely on the landscape of the model.