Exhibition On Screen: Lucian Freud A Self Portrait

EXHIBITION ON SCREEN’s intensely compelling film on Lucian Freud reveals the life and work of a modern master though a unique exhibition of his self- portraits at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Freud made self-portraits for the whole of his life which intersected his controversial private life and reflected his shifting relationship with paint. His intense and unflinching gaze has produced a body of powerful, figurative works that places him in the forefront of great British painting. The film journeys through this landmark exhibition in which Freud turns his critical eye firmly on himself. Notoriety followed the grandson of Sigmund Freud: he was a key figure in London’s radical post-war art scene and his work reveals a great story to be enjoyed on the big screen.

In collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Royal Academy of Arts’ extraordinary exhibition will display more than 50 paintings, prints and drawings spanning nearly seven decades of Freud’s self-portraiture, brought together for the first time in history. They give a fascinating insight into both his psyche and his development as a painter from his earliest portrait painted in 1939 to the final one executed 64 years later. When seen together, his portraits represent an engrossing study into the dynamic of ageing and the process of self-representation.

Highlighting paintings such as Man with a Feather, Reflection with Two Children (Self-portrait), Hotel Bedroom, Interior with Plant, Reflection Listening and his masterpiece Painter Working Reflection, this film features key interviews with past sitters, friends and leading art experts such as Tim Marlow (Artistic Director, Royal Academy of Arts, London), Martin Gayford (Art Critic and Writer), Catherine Lampert (Art Curator and Writer), William Feaver (Art Curator and Writer), and Sebastian Smee (Art Critic). Notably, the film includes access to Lucian Freud’s early works and a rare visit to Lucian Freud’s painting studio, which remains as it was when he died in 2011.

Along with insight and commentary by the exhibition curators Andrea Tarsia (Royal Academy of Arts, London), Jasper Sharp (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) and David Dawson (Artist), this remarkable film is a must-see for anyone interested in discovering more about the man behind the some of the most talked about portraits in modern art history and, more broadly, the London artworld.