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Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits Hardcover – December 3, 2019

by Lucian Freud (Artist), Jasper Sharp (Contributor), David Dawson (Contributor),
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 63 ratings
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The artist stripped bare by himself: Lucian Freud’s self-portraits redefine the genre

In 1964 Lucian Freud set his students at the Norwich College of Art an assignment: to paint naked self-portraits and to make them “revealing, telling, believable ... really shameless.” It was advice that the artist was often to follow himself. Visceral, unflinching and often nude, Freud’s self-portraits chart his biography and give us an insight into the development of his style.

These paintings provide the viewer with a constant reminder of the artist’s overwhelming presence, whether he is confronting the viewer directly or only present as a shadow or in a reflection. Freud’s exploration of the self-portrait is unexpected and wide-ranging. In this volume, essays by leading authorities, including those who knew him, explore Freud’s life and work, and analyze the importance of self-portraiture in his practice.

Lucian Freud was born in Germany in 1922, and permanently relocated to London in 1933 during the ascent of the Nazi regime. After seeing brief service during World War II, Freud had his first solo exhibition in 1944 at the Alex Reid & Lefevre Gallery in London. Despite exhibiting only occasionally over the course of his career, Freud's 1995 portrait Benefits Supervisor Sleeping was sold at auction, at Christie's New York in May 2008, for $33.6 million, setting a world record for sale value of a painting by a living artist. Freud died in London in 2011.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    160 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Royal Academy of Arts
  4. Publication date
    December 3, 2019
  5. Dimensions
    9.2 x 0.8 x 11.1 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1912520060
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1912520060
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Hell isn’t only other people. One must include oneself and one’s body in this comedy of errors and terrors and that’s what Freud does. -- Adrian Searle ― Guardian

This is an artist who delights in confronting human flaws – both other people’s and his own. -- Chloë Ashby ― Frieze

Freud painted a human truth that no one wants to confront, and that’s why his ugliness is so goddamn beautiful. -- Eddy Frankel ― Time Out New York

Freud’s self-portraits...are all sorts of things: tender, witty, experimental and – yes, that dread word – visceral. To walk around this show is to be powerfully aware both of his intense single-mindedness – the sheer quality of his concentration – and of his abiding fascination with the idea of the shifting, slippery self; the experience is a little like being watched. But if some red thread does link them, it is surely this inescapable menace. -- Rachel Cooke ― Guardian

Freud liked to take a long, hard look at himself--and more often than not, the results are stunning. -- Alastair Smart ― Telegraph

[Lucian Freud's] portraits will capture the evolution of an artist as he moved from the exactitude of a youthful style towards an ever freer, looser and more overtly painterly technique. They will show us a human being who, through long self-contemplation, captures the frank truth about flesh as it ages. -- Nancy Durrant ― The Times

Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits...is unprecedented: a celebration, and an enigma--of time, change, the leitmorifs of a life distilled on canvas. -- Jackie Wullschläger ― Financial Times

In the end, it is the painting that mattered most. 'I dont want to retire,' he once said. 'I want to paint myself to death.' And that's more or less what he did: It wasnt until two weeks before his death that he finally laid his brush to rest. -- Farah Nayeri ― New York Times

This book presents German painter Lucian Freud’s stunning but lesser-known self portraits. These canvases display the artist’s flesh in somber, provocative ways. -- Natasha Wolff ― Forbes

Seldom has a painter indulged in such relentlessly fierce, pitiless, lonely self-appraisal. And yet he could not stop himself. He had to plunge deep into the well of himself, no matter how dark the outcome. -- Michael Glover ― Hyperallergic

Freud on Freud, no filter. [...] As he painted life, he also was painting its inevitable slippage, its wither and fade. His blunt devotion to the world in front of him, as it was, made mortality his real subject, something “The Self Portraits” rings clear as a bell. As he painted life, he also painted death. -- Murray Whyte ― Boston Globe

Captures [Freud's] most visceral essence, as his self-portraits were amongst the most emotional pieces ever painted. -- Ken Scrudato ― Blackbook

...Stretches the definition of ‘self-portrait’ while revealing that the painter was as unsparing with himself as with his other subjects. [...] In Freud’s visceral self-portraits it’s a troubled landscape indeed. -- Peter Plagens ― Wall Street Journal

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Royal Academy of Arts (December 3, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1912520060
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1912520060
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.2 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.2 x 0.8 x 11.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 63 ratings

About the author

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Joseph Leo Koerner

Joseph Leo Koerner

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Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and raised there and in Vienna, Austria, Joseph Leo Koerner was educated at Yale, Cambridge University, and Berkeley. An art historian and filmmaker, he is currently a professor at Harvard University, and has taught at the Courtauld Institute of Art (London), the University of Frankfurt, Cambridge University and Oxford University. His first art history book, "Caspar David Friedrich and the Subject of Landscape" won the Jan Mitchell Prize. He has also written prize-winning books on Bosch and Bruegel, self-portraiture, and Protestant iconoclasm. He has written and presented films for the BBC and wrote, produced, and directed the feature documentary THE BURNING CHILD (available on AmazonPrime)

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
63 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Leah Sullivan
5.0 out of 5 stars Striking collection of introspection and artistic journeying.
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2024
Verified Purchase
Lucian Freud's work is powerful and arresting. I first encountered it at MOCA early this century. He is intrepid as an artist, and moving; and this collection of self-portraits shows both the man, seeking the truth of identity, and the artist, seeking true expression. One of his self-portraits inspired one of my ekphrastic poems. I am happy to find that portrait reproduced here.
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tv
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2023
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Purchased after seeing a British show tracking down authentication of unfinished Lucien Freud piece of art. Wanted to know more about this artist. Good quality hardback books, good prints and illustrations.
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Murrayhill
5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable book about a colossus of modern art
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2020
Verified Purchase
Lucien Freud's Self-Portraits are among the most fascinating works of twentieth-century art. The shine a powerful light on this complex painter, but they also play with the viewer in fascinating ways. The essays by Koerner, Smee, Dawson and Sharp are a fabulous introduction, with great reproductions. Great gift for anyone who paints, or want to paint!
2 people found this helpful
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CJMY
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabukous!
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2020
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This is a fabulous book with wonderful illustrations. The content contains valuable information. It is a large book which is very well-made. It arrived in excellent condition.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Fredy Jaggi
5.0 out of 5 stars very positive experience
Reviewed in Canada on September 23, 2022
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Super fast delivery, much appreciated. Great book. Thanks
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RR Waller
5.0 out of 5 stars Freud portraits
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 19, 2020
Verified Purchase
BOught after visiting the RAs exhibition in December 2019, it is an excellent text with high quality reproductions. Bought as a present for my wife (arts graduate), she has enjoyed it very much and commented on how much she learned and how effectively it accompanied the exhibition.
One person found this helpful
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C. BROWN
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Catalogue
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2020
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The is the Catalogue of the RA Exhibition, a few pounds cheaper than buying it at the RA and you don't have to lug it home. The exhibition was brilliant and this does it justice. Read alongside the Feaver biography.
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maria blackwell
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous artist
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2020
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Fantastic
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Mr. Samuel A. Leigh
5.0 out of 5 stars Go to the exhibition
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 5, 2019
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Great reproductions
One person found this helpful
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