Lucian Freud

ucian Freud (1922–2011) was one of the most influential figurative painters of the 20th century, renowned for his unflinching depictions of the human body and his rigorous exploration of psychological presence. Born in Berlin and arriving in Britain as a refugee in 1933, Freud studied at the Central School of Art and the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing. His early works of the 1940s and 1950s display a precise, linear style, but by the 1960s he shifted toward a thicker, more sculptural handling of paint that would define his mature idiom.

Freud’s intense portrait sessions—often involving family members, friends, or habitual sitters—could extend over months, producing works such as *Benefits Supervisor Sleeping* (1995) and *Reflection (Self-Portrait)* (1985). His technique, characterized by incremental, scrutinizing brushstrokes and a muted palette, creates surfaces that seem both corporeal and vulnerable. Freud rejected idealization, instead embracing the physicality, weight, and presence of the human form.

Exhibitions at the Whitechapel Gallery (1954), Hayward Gallery (1974), and major retrospectives at Tate Britain (2002) and the Met (2022) have cemented his legacy. His works are widely held in public collections, including the Tate, the National Portrait Gallery, and MoMA. Often grouped with the “School of London,” Freud stands apart for his uncompromising focus on the human figure and the intimate, sometimes unsettling truthfulness of his vision. His oeuvre remains a cornerstone of postwar British painting.