Art is becoming as big as sport this year with the Cultural Olympiad going on. Paying homage to one of Britain's greatest painters is the latest show of Lucian Freud's portraits at London's National Portrait Gallery.
From the early 1940s to - for the first time - Portrait of the Hound 2011, the unfinished painting of Freud’s assistant David Dawson and his dog Eli, his full career is here. 130 paintings and works on paper loaned from museums and private collections throughout the world, Lucian Freud Portraits is the result of years of planning by the Gallery, in close partnership with the man himself.
TheChicGeek Says - Freud is famed for his fleshy nudes but it's his small early portraits and clothed figures that are the most successful. While we often look to historical portraiture to illustrate the fashions of the day, Freud's will go down as a record of everyday menswear during the 20th century. From rich art collectors to dukes and assistants, what resonates is that they are all real and believable. It's all in the hands.
Until 27 May 2012
National Portrait Gallery, London
Admission £14.
Left - Man with a Feather (Self-portrait), 1943
Copyright: Private Collection © The Lucian Freud Archive. Photo: Courtesy Lucian Freud Archive
Below Left - Two Irishmen in W11, 1984-5
Copyright: Private Collection, Ireland © The Lucian Freud Archive. Photo: Courtesy Lucian Freud Archive
Below - The Brigadier, 2003-04
Copyright: Private Collection © The Lucian Freud Archive. Photo: Courtesy Lucian Freud Archive
