Nell White's Artist Research Paper: Lucien Freud
Lucien Freud, the grandson of renowned psychologist Sigmund Freud, is a British painter and draughtsman of German origin. He studied art– attending the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing. His career in art then bloomed in Paris and Greece, and finally settled in an inner city area of London “whose seediness is reflected in Freud’s often somber and moody interiors and cityscapes� (1). His early work does differ from his later work - he has been an artist for over 40 years. Freud first experimented with drawing and later shifted his media towards painting. While painting he went through a surrealist phase trying to find his identity. The painting, Painter’s Room, is an example of one of Freud’s works during his surrealism phase. The subjectivity and intensity of his work once his identity was established is one to set him apart.
Freud quotes, “Normally I underplay facial expression when painting the figure, because I want expression to emerge through the body. I used to do only heads, but came to feel that I relied too much on the face. I want the head, as it were, to be more like another limb.� (2) Freud creates his work uniquely and remedially – he does not paint to make the picture beautiful for the pictures sake, he paints humans to release and fix their inner qualities, the ugliness and violent rawness, and uses the brush strokes as the interpretations. He paints them exactly how they are, embracing the flaws and in this way, Freud is free to explore formal and optical problems rather than expressive or interpretative ones (1).
William Kentridge is an artist studied in this class and is comparable to Lucien Freud. Kentridge, though he normally uses a series of drawings comprised into a video, puts so much depth and perspective into each line and stroke of his charcoal. Freud, as seen in his later works, also releases emotion via his art tool. Kentridge easily captures his audience by means of the video, which is unique and smart as charcoal drawings are not the most unique form of art, not saying they aren't beautiful pieces in themselves. Freud, though he uses a mute palette throughout his career, easily captures the viewer by the internal contrasts in his paintings and the subtle details which captures the subjects inner identity portrayed by the paint.
I would tell a friend about this artist if they were the type of person who was intrigued by looking deep and being captivated by a work of art. An appreciation would be ideal however the intensity and beautifulness in Freud’s pieces are key factors in making his work able to be appreciated by all.