Lucian Freud On Paper [Hardcover]

Sebastian Smee (Introduction), Richard Calvocoressi (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2009

Lucian Freud is widely regarded as one of the greatest living artists, and drawing is fundamental to his development as an artist and to how he sees. Speaking recently about his early years he claimed, "I would have thought I did 200 drawings to every painting in those early days. I very much prided myself on my drawing." Drawing became an important part of Freud’s life from the start and a famous sketchbook, The Freud-Schuster Book, has survived dating back to January 1940, when Freud was in Snowdonia with Stephen Spender, as do sketches from Freud’s life as a merchant seaman on a cargo vessel in the Atlantic in 1941. His then surreal style lent itself to illustrations and his fascination with animals, birds, and fish was revealed in the famous line drawings he produced for Nicholas Moore’s book of poems, The Glass Tower (1944). This volume charts Freud’s work on paper, including the etchings, over his entire career. It includes the formative early work, the sketches in preparation for painting his masterpiece, Large Interior W11 (after Watteau) (1983), the sketches of the completed painting in the studio and the astonishing later studies of his mother. The book ends with the etchings of recent years. The works on paper are an extraordinary achievement, providing even deeper insights into the work of perhaps the greatest figurative artist of our time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you love oversized, arty coffee table books or are simply a fan of the figurative giant Lucien Freud, Rizzoli's "Lucian Freud on Paper" is a must-have. The book, in keeping with Rizzoli standards, is beautifully printed and bound." ~Paper Magazine

About the Author

Richard Calvocoressi was for many years Director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and is now Director of the Henry Moore Foundation. Sebastian Smee has written frequently on Freud. He is the author of Lucian Freud 1996–2005 and Freud at Work.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli (February 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847832333
• ISBN-13: 978-0847832330
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 1.2 x 11.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is outstanding, September 7, 2011

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Celestino Villanueva (Oviedo, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lucian Freud On Paper (Hardcover)

The former and only review to this book up to this date is absolutely wrong. I do not know if it was referred to the former edition printed in Great Britain (Jonathan Cape/Random House, 2008), but the book I got from Amazon within the last month was printed with care by Rizzoli, in Italy (2009). In addition, it has two excellent essays.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating But Flawed, January 20, 2010

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reading guy "reader" (dc) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lucian Freud On Paper (Hardcover)

There are about 20 drawings in this collection that are haunting and mesmerizing; the other couple of hundred odd drawings are banal wothless filler. Also, unfortunately the quality of this book is terrible; the binding fell apart after a couple of readings and the page quality is cheap. If you are looking for a cheap book with a couple of dozen amazing drawings and a lot of crap in between, this is for you. But, I'm sure another publisher will figure it out and publish a much more satisfying book in the future. Thus - disappointing purchase leaving me wanting something more.