Intimacy in Lucian Freud´s painting

Many of Freud’s works speak of intimacy in a world where privacy is dying out. Exaggeratedly jealous of his own personal life, the artist portrayed above all people belonging to his closest circle : lovers, relatives and friends, exposing their most intimate side, on occasions with certain cruelty.

He always painted from life, subjecting his sitters to long, exhausting sessions, sometimes in unusual poses, with a physical closeness that enabled him to capture the tiniest details.

His skill at evoking non-erotic intimacy in his works, such as tenderness, friendship or paternal affection, is particularly apparent in the double portraits, where relationships are staged through intertwined poses arranged by the painter himself. As spectators, we sometimes feel we are witnessing an intimate moment and are not sure where to look. We visited the room dedicated to “Intimacy” in the exhibition “Lucian Freud. New Perspectives” with its curator in London, Daniel Herrmann, curator of modern and contemporary projects at the National Gallery.