Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits 27 October 2019–26 January 2020. The Jillian and Arthur M.Sackler Wing of Galleries

Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits will be the first exhibition to focus on the celebrated artist’s visceral and unflinchingself-portraits. Executed over almost seven decades on canvas and paper, the exhibition will bring together around 50 works that chart Freud’s (1922-2011) artistic development: from his early, more linear and graphic works to the fleshier painterly style that became the hallmark of hislaterwork. The majority ofthe works are from private collections and a number have not been seen publicly for several decades. The exhibition will be organised following a loose chronologyin six sections,revealing Freud’s unexpected and wide-ranging exploration of the self-portrait. Freud was once asked if he was a good model for himself, to which he replied “No, I don’t accept the information that I get when I look at myself and that’s where the trouble starts”. This ‘trouble’ led to a continuous confrontation with his self-image that went in tandem with his interrogation of paint. This will be highlighted within the first section that places his first major self-portrait, Man with a Feather, 1943 (Private Collection) along side his late work Self-portrait, Reflection, 2002 (Private Collection). While the first reveals the tight brush work that would definehis early period, the latter exemplifies the use of impasto and the technical virtuosity of his mature work.

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Information from Royal Academy Press Release