Lucian Freud was one of the most influential portrait artists of the 20th century. His figurative paintings offer an unabashed view of his subjects, which included friends, family members and lovers, and are visceral and revealing while intuitively respectful. He was lauded by some and criticized by others for often painting his subjects nude, brazenly undraped or sensually posed.
Born in Berlin, Germany, in 1922 to Jewish parents, Freud and his family fled the oncoming war in 1933, settling in North London, England. He attended Goldsmiths College in London. When war erupted, he enlisted in the British Merchant Navy.
Freud’s paternal grandfather was the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who also fled Germany before the war, but died in 1938. Lucian Freud maintained a lifelong fascination with psychoanalysis and instilled a psychological intensity in his work.
In his early years, Freud leaned toward realism, but as he aged and spent time with other artists, he began to explore Surrealism and Expressionism. He was part of a group of artists known as the School of London, which included Francis Bacon, Leon Kossof and Frank Auerbach. Artist R.B. Kitaj characterized these painters as having a unique style of work that leaned heavily into the figurative.
Bacon is considered Freud’s most significant influence. Before their friendship, his paintings were linear and thinly painted. After meeting Bacon, he stopped using soft sable brushes and employed stiff hog hair brushes, trimming them down to nubs. He used thick paint, layering and smearing each application to build forms through pigments. Even into his 80s, he would often paint for 14 to 18 hours a day, frequently depicting his subjects at larger-than-life-size. His artistic process could last one to two years for each work as he spent intensive time with prospective models.
He died in 2011 at age 88. Freud’s paintings can be found in numerous museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate Britain in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He was appointed a Companion of Honour in 1983 and a member of the Order of Merit in 1993.
Find original Lucian Freud prints and multiples, drawings and watercolors and other art on 1stDibs.
After Constable's "Elm"
By Lucian Freud
Located in New York, NY
Lucian Freud After Constable's "Elm" 2003 Etching on Somerset Textured White paper 18 7/8 x 15 inches; 48 x 38 cm Edition of 46 Initialed and numbered in graphite (lower recto) Frame available upon request Published by Matthew Marks Gallery...
Etching
Woman on a Bed
By Lucian Freud
Located in New York, NY
Lucian Freud Woman on a Bed 1991-92 Etching on Somerset Satin White paper 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches; 44 x 39 cm Edition of 30 Initialed and numbered in graphite (lower recto) Frame available upon request Published by Matthew Marks Gallery...
Etching
Solicitor's Head
By Lucian Freud
Located in New York, NY
Lucian Freud Solicitor's Head 2003 Etching on Somerset soft white paper 23 1/4 x 19 inches; 59 x 48 cm Edition of 46 Initialed and numbered in graphite (lower recto) Frame available upon request Published by Matthew Marks Gallery...
Etching
After Chardin
By Lucian Freud
Located in New York, NY
Lucian Freud After Chardin 2000 Etching on White Somerset Textured Paper 30 3/4 x 37 3/4 inches; 78 x 96 cm Edition of 46 Initialed and numbered in graphite (lower recto) Frame available upon request Published by Matthew Marks Gallery...
Etching
Portrait Head
By Lucian Freud
Located in New York, NY
Lucian Freud Portrait Head 2001 Etching on Somerset Textured White paper 28 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches; 72 x 57 cm Edition of 46 Initialed and numbered in graphite (lower recto) Frame available upon request Published by Matthew Marks Gallery...
Etching
The Painter's Doctor
By Lucian Freud
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Lucian Freud (1922-2011) was a seminal figure in 20th-century British art, celebrated for his raw and psychologically charged exploration of the human form. With his distinctive fi...
Etching
Lucian Freud (1922–2011) - Head of a Girl II - Etching on paper - 1982
By Lucian Freud
Located in Varese, IT
Etching on wove paper, edited in 1982. Limited edition, only 16 copies of the work were printed, numbered from 1/16 to 16/16 + 4 numbered "Studio Proof" copies. Numbered as Studio Pr...
Etching
$15,000
Susanna
By Lucian Freud
Located in New York, NY
Lucian Freud Susanna 1996 Etching on Somerset Textured White paper 20 x 19 5/8 inches; 51 x 50 cm Edition of 40 Initialed and numbered in graphite (lower recto) Frame available upon request Published by Matthew Marks Gallery...
Etching
The Egyptian Book
By Lucian Freud
Located in New York, NY
Lucian Freud The Egyptian Book 1994 Etching on T.H.S. Saunders paper 18 1/4 x 16 3/4 inches; 46 x 43 cm Edition of 40 Initialed and numbered in graphite (lower recto) Frame available upon request Published by Matthew Marks...
Etching
Head of a Naked Girl
By Lucian Freud
Located in New York, NY
Lucian Freud Head of a Naked Girl 2000 Etching on Somerset Textured White paper 23 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches; 60 x 57 cm Edition of 46 Initialed and numbered in g...
Etching
The New Yorker
By Lucian Freud
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Lucian Freud (1922-2011) was a seminal figure in 20th-century British art, celebrated for his raw and psychologically charged exploration of the human form. With his distinctive figurative intensity, Freud captured friends, family, and lovers in a signature brand of realism that he refined over a seven-decade long career. The artist revitalized traditional portraiture in England by imbuing his images with visceral complexity and exposing his subjects in harsh, often unsettling poses that reveal their vulnerability. Freud's style is renowned for its striking emphasis on texture and physicality. His portraits are remarkably unsentimental and veer on harsh. Perhaps the most defining characteristic of his oeuvre is the artist's bold mastery of light and shadow. Freud accentuates every detail of his subjects with frenetic strokes and dramatic contrasts, carving out contours and imperfections with deliberate unflinching precision. Although Freud produced several prints early in his career, he took a 30-year hiatus before reconnecting with the medium in 1982. As with the rest of his practice, each etching demanded months of work and many sittings, deepening the intrigue and complexity of his printmaking. Completed in the last chapter of his career, "The New Yorker" offers a pared-back example of the artist's signature aesthetic. Freud captures his subject in a quiet moment of contemplation, his lips pursed...
Etching
Donegal Man
By Lucian Freud
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Lucian Freud (1922-2011) was a seminal figure in 20th-century British art, celebrated for his raw and psychologically charged exploration of the human form. With his distinctive fi...
Etching
Price Upon Request
Girl Holding Her Foot
By Lucian Freud
Located in London, GB
Etching printed with tone, 1985. Initialed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 50 (plus 15 artist's proofs) Printed on Somerset Satin White. Proofed and printed by Terry Wils...
Etching
Price Upon Request
Donegal Man
By Lucian Freud
Located in San Francisco, CA
Publisher: Acquavella LLC Printer: Marc Balakjian at Studio Prints, London Edition of 46
Etching
$150
H 12.2 in W 10.2 in
"Discovering your landscapes" 2007 Original Engraving Signed Figurative 12x10in
Located in Miami, FL
Alberto"El Cuervo" Bustillos (Mexico, 1950) 'Descubrir tus paisajes', 2007 etching, aquatint on paper Deponte 300 g. 12.3 x 10.3 in. (31 x 26 cm.) ID: CUR-108 Unframed
Etching, Aquatint, Engraving
$2,300
H 26.8 in W 33.3 in
Conceptual art photo engraving and screenprint 2005 27x33in hrs min kcal fat
Located in Miami, FL
Raul Cordero (Cuba, 1971) '32 hrs 53 min kcal: 783 fat: 35%', 2005 photo engraving and screenprint on paper Guarro Biblos 250g. 26.8 x 33.3 in. (68 x 84.5...
Screen, Engraving, Aquatint
$13,700
H 48.82 in W 36.42 in D 0.04 in
Original Vintage Secession Poster celebrating the emperor's jubilee
Located in Zurich, CH
Original Vintage Poster by the Austrian artist Ferdinand Ludwig Graf, a member of the Hagenbund. This Viennese artist association moved as soon a...
Paper
Nude - Etching by Giacomo Porzano - 1972
By Giacomo Porzano
Located in Roma, IT
Etching realized by Giacomo Porzano in 1972. Hand signed and numbered in pencil. Edition of 100 in arab numbers and 20 in roman numberd. Excellent condition.
Etching
$237
H 25.6 in W 19.69 in D 0.04 in
Nude - Etching by Carlo Marcantonio - 1970s
By Carlo Marcantonio
Located in Roma, IT
Nude is an etching on paper realized by Carlo Marcantonio. Hand-signed in the lower right in pencil. Good conditions. Edition of 50.
Etching
$450
H 12.6 in W 10.24 in
Deux danseuses, 1995, original lithograph by Jean Jansem, handsigned, numbered
By Jean Jansem
Located in Les Acacias GE, GE
Jean Jansem (1920-2013) Deux danseuses, 1995 Lithographie sur papier Arches, justifiée et numérotée EA Signée en bas à droite 22 x 17 cm / 32 x 26 cm Bibliographie: Catalogue raiso...
Lithograph
$1,161
H 34.26 in W 28.35 in D 0.79 in
Sterre- 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Pigment Print, Portrait
By Ger Doornink
Located in Barcelona, Catalonia
Edition of 50 Ger Doornink's limited editions are based on a high resolution scan of the original artwork. They are printed on archival Hahnemühle German Etching paper. This techniq...
Archival Paper, Etching
Communion
By Eileen Cooper
Located in London, GB
Eileen Cooper is a distinguished British artist celebrated for her expressive and dynamic prints that often explore themes of femininity, relationships, and the natural world. Her wo...
Etching
$800
H 26 in W 18 in
Hungarian Modernist Judaica Etching Print Teffilin, Jewish Rabbi in Prayer
By Janos Kass
Located in Surfside, FL
From very small edition of 15 on handmade mould made paper, with Jewish star Magen David watermark. From the deluxe boxed portfolio edition. Hand signed in pencil. János Kass (December 26, 1927 – March 29, 2010) was a Hungarian illustrator, printmaker, graphic designer, postage stamp designer, animated film director and teacher. Hungary's foremost graphic artist and book illustrator. Born in Szeged, he was the storyboard artist for the first fully digital animated film. This is done in a manner reminiscent of Saul Raskin, Tully Filmus and William Gropper, this is a modern take on a classic judaic subject matter, similar in style and tone to Abram Krol, Jakob Steinhardt, Josef Budko and Hermann Struck. Beginning his artistic studies at the Applied Art Academy, Kass finished in 1951 at the Academy of Fine Arts, a student of Gyula Hincz, György Kádár and György Konecsni. From 1956 to 1959 he held the Derkovits scholarship. From 1961 to 1962, he was assistant professor at the Book-Art Academy in Leipzig, Germany. Kass regularly took part in every major national exhibition at home and abroad. He had one-man shows in Italy (1963), Australia (1970) and Switzerland (1976). He participated in the Venice Biennial (1960), the Youth Biennial in Paris (1961), and Biennials in Lugano, Tokyo, Ljubljana, São Paulo and Buenos Aires, along with "Intergrafik" exhibitions in Berlin. He made many friends within the British graphic art fraternity while spending some months in London during 1980, working on one of the earliest, fully digitized computer-animated films, Dilemma, with John Halas. He had already won recognition with his illustrations and book designs. At the 1973 Leipzig book fair, his work was awarded the title of best illustrated book at the fair. This accolade was repeated at the Frankfurt fair in 1999. The 11-minute Dilemma was nominated at that year's Cannes Film Festival for the Golden Palm for Best Short Film, and is considered the first fully digital animated film. Kass was also a background artist for the "So Beautiful and So Dangerous" segment of Ivan Reitman Productions' 1981 animated feature film Heavy Metal. Kass' drawings, etchings and silk-screen prints were exhibited in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge in 1989 and in 1990 at London Olympia. He later held a one-man show in Edinburgh. He illustrated something like 400 books, classical novels and children's stories, among them an elegant edition of Imre Madách's 19th-century drama The Tragedy of Man, published in Iain MacLeod's translation by Edinburgh's Canongate press in 1993. He won Hungary's highest artistic award, the Kossuth prize, and was an elected member of the Széchenyi academy. János Kass’ s numerous works can be found in the Hungarian National Gallery. Since 1985, the János Kass Gallery...
Etching
$237
H 25.6 in W 19.69 in D 0.04 in
Nude - Etching by Carlo Marcantonio - 1970s
By Carlo Marcantonio
Located in Roma, IT
Nude is an etching on paper realized by Carlo Marcantonio. Hand-signed in the lower right in pencil. Good conditions. Edition of 50.
Etching
$1,155
H 34.26 in W 28.35 in D 0.79 in
Pulchritude - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Pigment Print, Portrait
By Ger Doornink
Located in Barcelona, Catalonia
Edition of 50 "Pulchritude" is a limited edition print on paper. We strongly advise against framed shipping to avoid damages and reduce delivery costs. This is why we offer shipping ...
Archival Paper, Etching
$2,500
H 14.75 in W 23.5 in D 0.5 in
Wolf Kahn, Memorial Bridge, Springfield, Mass, signed, dated & inscribed, Framed
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Untitled, 1982 Original Etching 10 × 15 inches Edition AP (aside from the regular edition of 90) pencil signed, dated and inscribed to Cynthia Frame included: Ships framed ...
Etching
Conversation
By Lucian Freud
Located in New York, NY
Etching on Somerset Textured White paper Edition of 30 Frame available upon request Initialed and numbered in graphite (lower recto) Published by Matthew Marks Gallery
Etching
Girl Holding her Foot
By Lucian Freud
Located in London, GB
Etching on Somerset Satin White paper Edition of 50 88.4 x 71.3 cms (34.8 x 28.1 ins)
Etching