LUCIAN FREUD

Early works, 1939-1954

9 October – 12 December 2008

A major loan exhibition of early works by Lucian Freud (born

1922) will be held at Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert, 38 Bury Street, St

James’s, London SW1 from 9 October – 12 December 2008. The

earliest paintings, from 1939, were completed when the artist was

only 16. Many of the paintings in the exhibition are from private

collections and not normally available to be seen by the public.

With the support of the artist, the exhibition will be curated by

the artist’s assistant and model for the past fifteen years, the

painter David Dawson, with help from Catherine Lampert, who

most recently selected the Freud retrospective which opened in

Dublin in June 2007.

This will be the first exhibition devoted entirely to the artist’s

early work since 1997 with all works on loan from private or

public collections worldwide, and several being shown publicly

for the first time. Highlights include oil portraits such asWoman

with Tulip (1945), Portrait of a Man (John Craxton) 1946, Girl in a

Blanket (1953), A Woman Painter (1954) and the self portrait Man

at Night (1947) as well as the still lifes Cacti and Stuffed Bird (1943),

Dead Heron (1945), Lemon Sprig (1946) and Still Life with Aloe

(1949).

The aim of the exhibition will be to follow the evolution of

Freud’s vision in the early years from the period of, in the artist’s

words, “maximum observation”, when he proceeded solely “by

staring at my subject matter and examining it closely”, to the

period from 1954 when he wanted to deliberately “free myself

from this way of working”.

The selection will focus on comparisons between certain works,

both stylistically and through subject matter. During these years

Freud spent time in Greece, Paris, Ireland and Scotland as well

as Paddington. The varying quality of light registered in these

luminous works relates to his exploration of interior life, a pursuit

that continues in the paintings that engage Freud today.

BIOGRAPHY:

Lucian Freud was born in Berlin in December 1922, and came to England with

his family in 1933. He studied briefly at the Central School of Art in London

and at Cedric Morris’s East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in

Dedham. His first solo exhibition was at the Lefevre Gallery in London in

1944. In the summer of 1946 he went to Paris before going onto Greece for

several months. Since then he has lived and worked in London.

EXHIBITION HOURS:

Monday-Friday, 9am-5.30pm, Saturday, 11am-4pm.

Fully illustrated colour catalogue to accompany exhibition.

Admission is free.

For press information or jpeg images please contact Iona Sale, IONA PR, 01451

832 268, 07721 030 825 or iona@ionapr.com or for exhibition information

please contact James Holland-Hibbert on 020 7839 7600 or info@hh-h.com