“I like skin. It’s so unpredictable.” –Lucian Freud, 7 May 2009
As the grandson of the world’s most famous psychoanalyst, Lucian Freud (1922 – 2011) unsurprisingly used the psychology of both his subjects and his audience to create his provocative portrait paintings. For Freud, painting was always psychological—a necessary consideration, perhaps, for a man who remarked that he painted “people as animals.” The exhibition “Lucian Freud Portraits,” which recently changed venues from the National Portrait Gallery, London to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, is accompanied by a catalogue, edited by Sarah Howgate, including artist interviews and essays by Howgate, Michael Auping, and John Richardson, and over 200 illustrations of works in Freud’s oeuvre.
Skin in Freud’s paintings is never plain; the intricacies of his colors and textures are always communicative of a deeper psychological meaning and topography in his subjects.
Take the quiz below and send us your responses by Friday, September 28 for your chance to win a copy of this exquisite catalog! And be sure to check out our longer post and commemorative slideshow on Freud’s portraiture, where you might pick up a clue to some of these answers!
Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, 1995
The Lucian Freud Portraits “Skins” Quiz
- What was the last painting Freud made sitting down?
- What painter served as an assistant and frequent model throughout the last two decades of Freud’s life?
- Freud painted several nude portraits of Australian performance artist Leigh Bowery, whom he met at the Anthony d’Offay Gallery in London. In what year did they meet?
- In 2008, the Christie’s sale of Benefits Supervisor Sleeping set the record for the highest price paid for a painting by a living artist at $____ million.
- What type (not breed) of dog is featured in Freud’s last and unfinished painting?
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