Man's Head (Self portrait III), 1963

Lucian Freud (1922–2011) is widely regarded as one of Britain’s greatest portraitists of the late twentieth century. The grandson of Sigmund Freud, he was born in Berlin and emigrated to England with his family in 1933. The result of many hours spent with sitters, his closely observed figurative works have been described as ‘excessively’ realist. The subjects are often naked and the scrutiny with which Freud consistently portrayed the human body distinguished him among fellow artists in the twentieth century.

Freud produced many self portraits, and this is the last of three painted in quick succession in 1963. By this time, the artist’s technique had developed from being meticulously detailed to a more broadly painted, expressive style. Here, Freud’s squinting gaze is arresting in its directness, but his features are abstracted into painterly, flesh-coloured swathes.

National Portrait Gallery, London. Purchased, 1978
© The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved 2021/Bridgeman Images.