This sensational exhibition titled New Perspective is staged at the National Gallery, London, to mark the centenary of the birth of the major 20th-century artist (1922-2011) and is running until 22 January 2023. The exhibition is organised by the National Gallery and the Museo Nacional Thyssen- Bornemisza, Madrid.

Daniel F. Herrmann, Curator of the show said: ’With an unflinching eye and an uncompromising commitment to his work, Freud created figurative masterpieces that continue to inspire contemporary artists today. His practice has often been overshadowed by biography and celebrity. In this exhibition we offer new perspectives on the artist’s work looking closely at Freud’s mastery of painting itself and the contexts in which it developed.’

This exhibition explores new ideas and innovative perspectives on Freud’s work, focusing on his constant commitment to the medium of painting, colours and sitters. This remarkable show features important loans from international collections, both public museums such as The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and private galleries such as Ordovas and Hauser&Wirth, the show is stunning.

New Perspectives culminates with rarely-seen paintings including Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Lent by His Majesty The King from the Royal Collection.), his portrait of fellow artist David Hockney and a dimly-lit room showing sketches of the artist’s mother.

A devoted connoisseur of European painting and regular visitor, Lucian Freud had a close relationship with the National Gallery. ‘I use the gallery as if it were a doctor,’ Freud told the journalist Michael Kimmelman. ‘I come for ideas and help – to look at situations within paintings, rather than whole paintings. Often these situations have to do with arms and legs, so the medical analogy is actually right.’

Freud often framed his subjects in domestic settings and in his paint-splattered studio, a place that became both stage and subject of his paintings in its own right. Showing how Freud’s practice changed throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries, the exhibition culminates in some of Freud’s monumental nude portraits, revelling in the representation of the human form.  

In the 2016 exhibition Painters’ Paintings: From Freud to Van Dyck the artist’s Self Portrait: Reflection (2002) and the nude portrait, After Breakfast (2001) were displayed alongside Corot’s Italian Woman, or Woman with Yellow Sleeve (L’Italienne) (about 1870.) The Corot, from Freud’s own collection was then given to the Gallery following the artist’s death through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.  

’How is it that these paintings, which are as effortless as Matisse, affect you more than any tragedy? Everything they contain is there for the viewer’s pleasure. It hardly matters what is going on. The water, the dogs, the people, though they are involved with each other, are there to please us. To me, these are simply the most beautiful pictures in the world. Once you’ve seen them you want to see them again and again.’ Freud said.

This exhibition is a must-see. Don’t miss it.
   

Image: Two Men, 1987-88 by Freud, Lucian (1922-2011); National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh; Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, UK; © National Galleries of Scotland.