Lucian Freud Book
Lucian Freud Book
The Copper Paintings
"A gem of a book." – David Dawson
Introducing the first book published by Less. Developed in close collaboration with the Lucian Freud Archive. With texts by Less founder David Scherf and art critic and Freud expert Martin Gayford. Worldwide distribution by Yale University Press.
- Premium cloth-bound hardcover
- Copper-metallic hot foil lettering
- 260 x 190 mm, english
- 80 pages, richly illustrated
- Printed on Pure and Japanese art paper
- Features two previously unpublished works
- Premiers last photo of lost Francis Bacon portrait
- With notes on each painting
Freud's copper paintings
In the early 1950s, Lucian Freud (1922–2011) created several works in oil paint on copper sheet, a technique popular with 17th-century artists but highly unusual for a painter in the mid-20th century. It was originally thought there were only a handful works on copper, but Freud in fact painted more than a dozen—all small-scale, enamel-smooth, and astonishingly intense. Based on a decade of research by David Scherf, this book brings together all of Freud's copper paintings for the first time, including two works that have never been reproduced before. Among Freud’s ‘coppers’ is also his famous portrait of Francis Bacon. The work was stolen in 1988 and has been lost ever since. During his research for this book, Scherf discovered a photograph that shows the work just minutes before the theft. This book is the first to publish it.
About Lucian Freud
Lucian Freud with art critic Martin Gayford. Photo: David Dawson
Lucian Freud (1922–2011) was a German-born British painter and draughtsman and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century portraitists. He is the son of Jewish architect Ernst Freud and a grandson of Sigmund Freud Early on, he established what would become a lifelong focus on portraits and nudes, which he often depicted in arresting close-up. The works are noted for their psychological penetration and often discomforting examination of the relationship between artist and model. In May 2008 his nude portrait "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" was sold by Christie's in New York for $33.6 million, setting a world record for a living artist then.