February 14, 2023
Lucian Freud. Temporary Exhibition at Thyssen Museum. Madrid
Orietta Ibarrondo Gelardin

New Perspectives. Considered to be one of the most important figurative painters of the past century, Lucian Freud used rich and vivid brushstrokes to depict his loved ones.

Lucian Freud (1922 - 2011)

New Perspectives

On the occasion of the centennial of Lucian Freud's birth, the Thyssen Museum in Madrid and the National Gallery in London are presenting a retrospective featuring 50 works of the artist.

Freud has been known as one of the most legendary figurative artists of all time; born in Berlin, then moved with his family to London when the Nazis came into power. The exhibition is divided into various sections each focused on a different stage of his life. His early painting was mostly self-portraits depicted in a more figurative style; followed by portraits of important family members of his life;  then drifting to a more intimate composition also depicting close ones of his, and finally combining all styles and portraying nudity with vivid brushstrokes but also using a rendering a sense of melancholy and grief in his compositions.

'My object in painting pictures is to try and move the senses by giving an intensification of reality.'
Lucian Freud. And the Bridegroom. 1993
Oil on canvas. 231.8 x 196.2 cm
The Lewis Collection© The Lucian Freud Archive. All rights reserved 2023 / Bridgeman Images

Throughout his life, Freud was anything but aesthetic when it came to the pleasures of the flesh. His paintings were mostly characteristic of his so expressive and vibrant brushstrokes creating an intense texture in his canvases. Since his grandfather, Sigmund Freud, was the famous founder of psychoanalysis, Lucian was greatly influenced by his frenetic personal life when painting. His early works were rather associated with the Surrealist movements, but shortly after drifted into the more figurative sector, with paintings that mostly consisted of naked figures lying down. The backgrounds of his subjects were usually set-ups or fictional spaces that were intended to create a relationship between the artist and its subject.

'I work from the people that interest me, and that I care about and think about, in rooms that I live in and know. I use the people to invent my picture with and I can work more freely when they are there.'

Lucian Freud. Bella and Esther. 1987-1988
Oil on canvas. 73.7 x 89.2 cm
Private collection
© The Lucian Freud Archive. All rights reserved 2023 / Bridgeman Images