WHAT? Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting

WHERE? National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE

WHEN? Now until 4th May

WHY GO? To get up close and personal. Can we ever see enough of the great figurative artist Lucian Freud? Not when there are rare, never-before displayed drawings and prep studies alongside his famous paintings to be discovered, including a newly acquired etching of Bella Freud, the artist’s fashion designer daughter who sat for ten portraits in all. This is surely the definitive exhibition of Freud's work from the very beginning right up to the end when he died in July 2011.

Freud’s ambitious later work, the famous nudes and raw rugged portraits are instantly recognisable but his intriguing early work is rarely shown. Who knew, as a very young boy, that he already revealed a creative talent, as his childhood drawings kept by his mother Lucie on display suggest? The tender references to her throughout reveal a sensitive side to the famously intense man.

Freud drew obsessively in pencil, charcoal and etching as this rich cache of unseen sketchbooks, letters and general scribblings portrays. Along with personal anecdotes, it all adds to the general excitement of rediscovering his genius.

A curated selection of famous paintings he particularly admired as a young man, like Watteau’s Pierrot Content (c1712) are shown alongside his interpretations in response, namely Large Interior, W11 (after Watteau) illustrating that, however famous he became, he was always generous enough to applaud a fellow artist.

IN THE KNOW Keeping it in the family, Bella Freud will be in conversation on 27th February with curator Sarah Howgate for an evening of recollections based around her experience of sitting for her famous father.

Bella Freud T-shirts and accessories designed to complement the exhibition are on sale in the gift shop.