Cathy's Art Diary

Fascinating exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum of etchings by Lucien Freud. The show marks a donation to the museum in lieu of inheritance tax from the estate of Marc Balakjian, the master printer who Freud worked with on etchings. Balakjian had kept a collection of trial proofs of their work. The commentary explained how they had worked closely together with Freud marking up the proofs with charges and the prints in the show these changes. There were multiple examples of each prints showing the subtle changes between each. I must admit a lot of the tweaks were too subtle for me to spot. In one case they were shown with the original etching plate. There were some beautiful images shown with examples of prints in the collection by artists whose prints were admired by Freud. I was particularly interested as in talks on Renaissance art I often hear about the relationship between artists and print makers so it was insightful to see an example of this relationship in a co...

Insightful online lecture from ARTscapades on the Lucien Freud and plants exhibition at the Garden Museum. I went to the exhibition a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it but Giovanni Aloi’s insightful talk added another layer to the show which I hadn’t thought about. Aloi is from the Art Institute of Chicago and has written “Lucian Freud: Herbarium”. He set out the argument that Freud approached plants and gardens in the same way as his nudes concentrating on the detail and reality of the subject rather than seeking a sense of idealised beauty. He talked us through a selection of the pictures and I understood more about they. For example I hadn’t realised that the large work “Two Plants” from 1997 was painted over three years. It shows fresh and faded parts of the plant. When it was bought by the Tate Freud said he had been painting small portraits of leaves not the plants as a whole. He also talked about how Freud’s life often overpowers his art and how he has reached “...

Fascinating online interview as part of the Chelsea History Festival with Lucian Freud’s biographer William Feaver as he publishes Volume 2 of his life of the artist .  The talk ranged over both books to discuss Freud’s life and work as well as Feaver’s relationship with him as his chosen biographer. There were great illustrations using familiar figures and some less known ones. The interviewer was good, keeping the talk on track and asking some searching questions. I love Freud’s work but find him a difficult character but I did learn new things about him including the fact he was given two dogs as a wedding present, shared the royalties from his grandfather Sigmund’s books with his cousins and tattooed Kate Moss.

Fabulous exhibition at the Royal Academy focusing on Lucian Freuds self-portraits. This show not only examined how Freud viewed himself but also, as it was arranged chronologically, was a great way to show how his style and technique changed over the years. His pictures began as smooth, finely drawn works and end as the wonderful impasto studies with which we now associate him. It was curated by David Dawson, Freud’s last studio assistant, and felt comprehensive as it even included letters with sketched self-portraits and lots of pictures from private collections. The pictures were, of course, wonderful. I don’t know his earlier work that well but loved the rather flat style. I loved a detailed drawing of a street scene with a beautifully drawn wall and lamp with just the top of his head sneaking into the scene. It was nice to see a sketch of “Hotel Bedroom” from 1954 as well as the picture itself. Also to see three pictures from 1963 reunited for the first time since then...

Fascinating talk as part of the Charleston Festival with Lynn Barber interviewing Geordie Grieg, the writer of a biography of Lucian Freud “Breakfast with Lucian”. He talked about how he had almost stalked Lucian until he granted him an interview and how he then conducted a series of discussions with him over their many meetings over breakfast and in the studio. The discussion with Lynn Barber was very funny as she had always tried to get an interview with Lucian but failed. Geordie Grieg talked about Lucians many lovers and numerous illegitimate children as well as about how he worked in the studio. I bought the book which is always the sign of an excellent event!