Detailed Analysis of Lucian Freud's Artwork: Painting and Style

This essay provides an analysis of Lucian Freud's artwork, focusing on his techniques, influences, and prominent pieces. It begins by highlighting Freud's connection to Sigmund Freud and his significance in figurative art, particularly his use of impasto and the influence of surrealism. The essay exa...Read More

Running head: ART WORK OF LUCIAN FREUD
Art Work of Lucian Freud
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ART WORK OF LUCIAN FREUD
Lucian Michael Freud, apart from being a famous painter whose legacy is cherished for
the impact he has generated in various genres of painting from time to time, is also known for
having familial ties with Sigmund Freud. In the world or art Lucian Freud is renowned as a
painter and a pioneer in the field of figurative art. Two very prominent characteristic features of
the art work which he had created is the influence of surrealism, and the usage of technique of
impasto, which even characterized the works of Van Gogh (Feaver & Auerbach 2002).
Surrealism refers to the movement which had begun in the field of art from the year 1920
through the painting of items taken from daily life with an artistic angle typical to the genre
which made them appear as something quite abstract and absurd, but at the same time, it had
deep meaning attached to it (Feaver & Auerbach 2002). The main aim of the movement was to
present art in a way which would transform the viewpoint of the spectators, by way of redefining
the existing things with a touch of their complicated aesthetic sense. It would not be wrong to say
that the form of art which concerned itself with surrealism could be characterized as having
postmodern tendencies and influences in it (Feaver & Auerbach 2002). The technique of
impasto, is derived from the Italian term meaning to form a paste. Pioneering artist Van Gogh
had used this style a lot in his art works and can also be found in the works of Lucian Freud
(Smee & Freud 2007). The technique involved the use of a generous amount of colours in the
paintings. Lucian Freud had begun his career in the field of art as a figurative artist during his
stay in London. Later on he moved to be one of the champions of German Expressionism in the
field of art. Expressionism refers to a movement which had begun in Germany in the twentieth
century, which sought to distort the reality and present it in a very unearthly and strange way to
the spectators (Freud1954). The subject matter was the conveyance of the mood and the human
emotions and expressions. The element of abstraction was intact in the style of art, as the motive

2ART WORK OF LUCIAN FREUD
was similar to that of surrealism, that was to evoke thought in the minds of the people and
broaden the horizon of their imaginative faculty, by the subjective expression of an emotion
conveyed in a literary piece through art (Freud1954).
Having talked of the stylistic aspect and the movements with which Lucian Freud can be
associated with, this section shall be devoted to discussing one of his famous paintings, and
discuss the specificities of it. Lucian Freud seemed to be fond of painting women, which is why
most of his paintings had women figures as the subject matter. In the painting, Girl With a Dog,
one can see the first wife of Lucian Freud when she was pregnant. She is seen enclothed in a
golden cloak, with her right breast protruding out of the garment, and her right hand covering her
left one. She has a white dog resting its head on her legs (Freud1954). The melancholy can be
clearly visible in the eyes of the dog while the expression of his wife is quite grotesque in the
sense that she does not seem like she is smiling, nor can it be said that she is sad ( Smee & Freud
2007). The use of the technique of impasto has been resorted to using dull shades. The shading
and colouring techniques used has been the one which was typical to the nineteenth century of
the smooth and aligned portraiture (Feaver & Auerbach 2002). The image comes across as flat
owing to the usage of fainted contours. The fine balance of warmth and softness can be seen.
This picture epitomizes the movement of expressionism that had taken the history of art from
1920s by storm (Freud, Hockney & Gayford 2012). That is owing to the expression of the wife
of Lucian Freud, which is very ambiguous and opens room for the viewers to interpret it the way
they want to. The positive space in the picture would be considered as the woman and the dog,
while the door, the curtains and the background makes up for the negative space, which is as
vivid as the positive space (Hughes 1989).

3ART WORK OF LUCIAN FREUD
Figure 1: Girl with a dog (Sezer & Sezer, 2018)
The fine line of demarcation between the negative space and the positive space is almost
inexistent in the picture which has influenced my personal style. It is so because the artist has to
devote and perhaps more attention to the negative space of the painting in order to magnify the
beauty of the positive space or the main subject. The factor of both the negative and positive
space being equally striking shall be considered as a stylistic aspect worth emulation in my
paintings.

4ART WORK OF LUCIAN FREUD
Reference
Feaver, W., & Auerbach, F. (2002). Lucian Freud. Tate Gallery Publication.
Freud, L. (1954). Some thoughts on painting. Encounter, 3(1), 23-24.
Freud, L., Hockney, D., & Gayford, M. (2012). Lucian Freud: Painting People. National Portrait
Gallery.
Hughes, R. (1989). Lucian Freud Paintings. Thames and Hudson.
Sezer, S., & Sezer, S. (2018). Öykü: Terk Edilme Mevsimi. Retrieved from
https://sukutsuikasti.com/2014/11/29/terk-edilme-mevsimi/
Smee, S., & Freud, L. (2007). Lucian Freud. Taschen America Llc.