Lucian Freud Passed Away

Lucian Freud in 2005
Credit: David Dawson / Courtesy of Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert
(http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/07/21/arts/design/Lucianfreudss.html)

He started from the Neue Sachlichkeit (Otto Dix, Georg Gross), fed also with much older masters (Albrecht Dürer, Hans Memling); he was briefly attracted by Surrealism, only to reject it decisively (I could never put anything into a picture that wasn’t actually there in front of me); and the encounter with the art of Francis Bacon proved decisive. Lucian Freud (who died yesterday, at 88) has been one of the great masters of Hyperrealism.

There is an article about his life and work in NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/arts/lucian-freud-adept-portraiture-artist-dies-at-88.html?pagewanted=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha28

The Painter's Room (1944)
Credit: Bridgeman Art Library
(http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/07/21/arts/design/Lucianfreudss-2.html)

Girl with a Kitten (1947)
(http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/kuspit/kuspit8-19-7.asp)

Girl with Roses (1947-48)
British Council Collection
(http://collection.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/future/11/15742/object/45118/)

Girl with a White Dog (1951-52)
Tate Collection
(http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=4548)

Reflection with Two Children (1965)
Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid /Bridgeman Art Library
(http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/07/22/sports/22freud2.html)

Head of a Man (1966)
Credit: Christie's
(http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/07/21/arts/design/Lucianfreudss-10.html)

Naked Man with Rat (1977-78)
(http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/kuspit/kuspit8-19-15.asp)

The Painter's Daughter (1977-78)
Credit: Bridgeman Art Library
(http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/07/21/arts/design/Lucianfreudss-4.html)

The Painter's Mother (1984)
Credit: Bridgeman Art Library
(http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/07/21/arts/design/Lucianfreudss-9.html)

Man in a Chair (Portrait of H.H. Thyssen-Bornemisza)
(1985)
James Stourton’s Great Collectors of Our Time / Art Collecting since 1945 (Scala)
(http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/books/robinson/robinson7-10-08_detail.asp?picnum=5)

Benefits Supervisor Sleeping (1995)
Credit: Christie's Image, via Bridgeman Art Library
(http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/07/21/arts/design/Lucianfreudss-5.html)

Portrait of Queen Elisabeth (2001)
(http://fineartamerica.com/blogs/portrait-of-queen-elizabeth-two-by-lucian-freud.html)

si un rezumat pentru prietenii mei care nu stiu englezeste nici macar cat sa ma citeasca pe mine: Lucian Freud a pornit dela Noua Obiectivitate a lui Otto Dix si Georg Gross, hranit si din maestri mult mai vechi (Dürer si Memling); a fost tentat cateodata sa se aventureze si pe campiile suprarealismului (cine oare nu a fost?), ca pana la urma sa se scuture de el cu oroare (cum sa pictez ceva ce nu e acolo in fata mea?); intalnirea cu arta lui Francis Bacon s-a dovedit decisiva; cu femeile a avut el ce-a avut: nudurile sale nu sunt doar dezbracate, sunt obtruziv despuiate, goliciunea lor urla ca o rana deschisa din care se prelinge puroi, pana la punctul in care te prefaci ca nu o vezi si ii spui doamnei, 'va rog sa ma scuzati domnule, nu am stiut ca sunteti dezbracat'; a stiut insa sa fie si suav, dovada portretele primei sale sotii (care totusi a divortat de el, era in viata de toate zilele o pacoste); nici a doua nevasta nu a putut sa il suporte prea mult; a avut dupa aceea amante: era un romantic; totusi povestea ca el a dat foc scolii de pictura unde era elev este o legenda nedreapta; americanii s-au mirat multa vreme de unde pana unde faima lui de mare artist; pana cand la Hirshhorn a fost organizata o expozitie Lucian Freud; a urmat dupa aceea o expozitie la MoMA iar americanii au inceput sa il adore; asa sunt americanii, pana la urma baieti buni; daca ma intrebati pe mine, eu cred ca este genial: picteaza cu 'guts' (cum tot americanii zic) si spune in tablourile lui al naibii de bine tot ce are de spus; dar toate astea sunt incepand de ieri la timpul trecut; Lucian Freud ne-a parasit; ne raman capodoperele sale hiperrealiste, greu de inghitit pentru cei slabi; sunt patrunse si picturile lui, cum este toata arta veacuilui al douazecillea, de tensiunea insuportabila dintre imagine si realitate; asta este, ne-a parasit; sa se odihneasca in pace!


(Contemporary Art)