FREUD AT WORK

Lucian Freud is not only the most celebrated artist working in England,but one of the most private. He has frequently stated his reluctance to bephotographed and he has almost never agreed to be interviewed.Following thepublication of the last ten years of his work by Jonathan Cape in theautumn of 2005, the painter has agreed to talk to Sebastian Smee, a writeron art whom he greatly respects, in a series of conversations rather thanformal interviews. He wants to talk about painting itself, the demands ofhis own work and the painters he admires. Two photographers have had accessto Freud's studio. The late Bruce Bernard was a friend for many years andthe subject of two of Freud's paintings. Bernard was an authority onphotography, a great picture editor, and also a very fine photographer. Hemade a number of studies of Freud at work. Over the last five years inparticular, Freud's assistant, the painter David Dawson, has beenphotographing the artist constantly. The results reveal various stages ofworks in progress, including paintings of Dawson himself, and the intensityof the activity in this very secret domain. The only precedent to such adocument might be David Douglas Duncan's photographs of Picasso at work,but nothing as extensive has been published on such a major painter before.