MFA Boston Is the Only U.S. Venue for First-Ever Exhibition of Self-Portraits by British Modern Master Lucian Freud

BOSTON (February 24, 2020)—Over the course of almost seven decades, Lucian Freud (1922–2011) returned repeatedly to self-portraiture, creating a body of work that stands as one of the most sustained achievements of his career. Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits, presented at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), in partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts, London, is the first exhibition dedicated to the celebrated British painter in Boston and the first anywhere to focus on his visceral and unflinching depictions of himself. Freud’s self-portraits trace the evolution of his artistic development: from his linear and graphic early works to the fleshier, painterly style that became the hallmark of his later output. They also chart a life’s journey, from young boy to old man, in what was effectively an ongoing study of the aging process and the changes it inflicted on Freud’s physical form. Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits, on view in the Lois B. and Michael K. Torf Gallery from March 1 through May 25, 2020, assembles more than 40 works on canvas, paper and etching plate that span the 1940s to the early 21st century—including many works from private collections on public display for the first time in decades and four self-portraits shown only at the Boston venue. The MFA’s presentation of Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits is curated by Akili Tommasino, Associate Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art. It is further enriched within the context of the Museum’s collection, which contains works by artists throughout history—including Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn and Paul Cézanne—whose self-portraiture took the genre to new heights and provided inspiration for Freud.

“Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits” is organized by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Supported by Davis and Carol Noble. Additional support from the Barbara Jane Anderson Fund, the Alexander M. Levine and Dr. Rosemarie D. Bria-Levine Exhibition Fund, The Amy and Jonathan Poorvu Fund for the Exhibition of Contemporary Art and Sculpture, and an Anonymous Funder. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Media sponsor is Boston magazine.

“In this unprecedented exhibition, visitors can trace Lucian Freud’s career through his shifting visage. We are thrilled to bring the self-portraits of this virtuosic painter, who relentlessly mined the human condition, to the MFA, a Museum whose treasures include works by artists deeply important to his development,” said Tommasino.

Best known for unconventional portraits of his acquaintances, Freud painted his subjects with compositional ingenuity, technical virtuosity and a critical eye. He was no less vigorous when depicting himself, and his self-portraits provide a unique lens through which to view his artistic development and his restless exploration of paint. Organized roughly chronologically, Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits highlights essential characteristics of the artist’s practice and his innovative approaches to the age-old tradition of self-portraiture. The MFA’s presentation includes an evocation of Freud’s nocturnal studio—complete with hanging lamps, angled mirrors and a palette used by the artist—that invites visitors to learn more about the renowned British painter. Visitors can also portray their own likenesses with drawing supplies in the gallery and share them on social media using #FreudSelfPortraits.

Exhibition Highlights

• Four self-portraits are shown only at the Boston venue: a 1944 drawing, two oil-on-canvas sketches from about 1985 and about 1993, and the 2002 painting Self-Portrait (Abelló Collection), which is among the most recent of Freud’s works in the exhibition.
• Man with a Feather (1943, Private Collection), Freud’s first major self-portrait, was included in his first solo exhibition in 1944, at the Lefevre Gallery in London, and represents a defining moment in his early artistic maturity.
• Self-portrait as Actaeon (1949, Private Collection) was one of four drawings intended for a book on Greek myths that were ultimately rejected by the publisher. The subject alludes to Freud’s favorite painting in the history of art, Diana and Actaeon by the 16th-century Venetian master Titian.
• Hotel Bedroom (1954, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton), which features Freud’s second wife Caroline Blackwood, is one of only a few double portraits to depict the artist with another figure. It was the last work he painted while sitting down at the easel, deciding from then on to paint standing up.
• Reflection with Two Children (Self-Portrait) (1965, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid) was painted using a mirror placed on the studio floor and depicts Freud towering over two of his children, Ali and Rose Boyt—a composition inspired by an Egyptian tombstone that was published in a book that he kept with him throughout his life.
• Interior with Plant, Reflection Listening (Self-portrait) (1967–68, Private Collection), one of Freud’s more unconventional portraits, features a miniaturized fragment of his reflection peering through a large house plant.
• Reflection (Self-Portrait) (1985, Private Collection), likely executed at night, showcases extraordinary modulation in Freud’s application of paint.
• Flora with Blue Toenails (2000–01, Private Collection) is a portrait of a young woman that was completed shortly before Freud’s 80th birthday. The looming shadow of the artist and palpable discomfort of the model exemplify the uncomfortable power dynamic between painter and subject that suffuses some of the artist’s work. Freud’s treatment of his subjects—particularly young women—is further addressed in the exhibition’s interpretation.

About Lucian Freud

Lucian Freud is widely regarded as one of the foremost 20th-century painters. He was born in Berlin in 1922 to Ernst L. Freud, an architect and the son of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, and Lucie (née Brasch) Freud, a classicist and philologist. Following the rise of Nazism in Germany, Freud’s Jewish family decided to move to Britain in 1933. He began attending the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in 1939, after enrolling for only a short time at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London the previous year. After moving to London in 1943, he became closely involved with the city’s arts scene, forming a particularly close friendship with Francis Bacon that would last for 25 years and prove hugely influential on both artists. Freud chose to make portraiture the primary focus of his practice in the late 1940s and became renowned for works of startling intensity and his ability to convey flesh and the human form in paint. Typically, his sitters were unnamed close friends and family members, painted over periods of intense observation that lasted weeks and months. Many of them were women, whom he often painted nude and with a sense of cruel detachment or downright aggression. Freud’s reputation was cemented internationally by a series of exhibitions in the late 1980s and early ’90s. In 1993, he was made a member of the Order of Merit, an honor in the personal gift of Queen Elizabeth II that is limited to only 24 living recipients at any one time; Freud went on to paint a portrait of the Queen in 2001. A known philanderer who fathered 14 acknowledged children, Freud was also a self-proclaimed exhibitionist and a deeply indebted gambler; he was by no means an uncomplicated man. He died in 2011 at the age of 88, continuing to work until two weeks before his death.

Publication

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits, published by the Royal Academy of Arts. The book features contributions from David Dawson, painter, photographer and Freud’s former studio assistant; Joseph Leo Koerner, Thomas Professor of History of Art and Architecture and Senior Fellow of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University; Jasper Sharp, Adjunct Curator for Modern and Contemporary Art at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; and Sebastian Smee, a Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic.

Member Preview

The Member Preview for Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits (February 25–29, 2020) offers MFA members a first look at the exhibition before it opens to the public. Members enjoy free and faster admission to the Museum, discounts on dining, shopping and parking, access to special events, and free guest passes to share their love of art with others. Throughout 2020, the MFA’s 150th anniversary year, members also get double free admission and ticket benefits.

Related Exhibitions and Collection Works

Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits is presented at the MFA concurrently with two additional exhibitions focused on self-portraiture, both on view from February 8 through June 21, 2020. Elsa Dorfman: Me and My Camera is the first exhibition to explore autobiography as a theme in the work of Elsa Dorfman (born 1937), a beloved photographer from Cambridge, Massachusetts who is known for her large-format commissioned Polaroid portraits. Personal Space: Self-Portraits on Paper presents approximately 60 contemporary self-portraits on paper primarily from the MFA’s collection, featuring works by Allan Rohan Crite, Willie Cole, Jim Dine, Jess Dugan, Käthe Kollwitz, Kyung Sook Koo, Glenn Ligon, Michael Mazur, Cobi Moules, Robert Rauschenberg, Kiki Smith and John Wilson, among others.

Visitors are also invited to explore other self-portraits in the MFA’s global collection, which are highlighted in a dedicated slideshow on the Museum’s website. Selections include:

• Artist in his Studio (about 1628), Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
• The Quarry (La Curée) (1856), Gustave Courbet 
• Self Portrait (1885), Ellen Day Hale
• Self-Portrait with a Beret (about 1898-1900), Paul Cézanne 
• Woman in a Fur Hat (about 1915), Gretchen Woodman Rogers
• Runaways (1993), Glenn Ligon 
• Untitled #282 (1993), Cindy Sherman

Public Programming

• “Turning Inward: Self-Portraits across Time” (February 11–March 19, 2020), a five-session course that explores the many ways in which self-portraiture has developed and been challenged across time, place and media; includes a lecture (February 11 and 13) focused specifically on Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits, led by exhibition curator Akili Tommasino
• “The Presence of the Past: Lucian Freud” (March 4, 7–8 pm), a conversation between two contributors to the Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits catalogue: Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post art critic Sebastian Smee and Joseph Leo Koerner, Thomas Professor of History of Art and Architecture and Senior Fellow of the Society of Fellows at Harvard
• Screenings of Lucian Freud: A Self Portrait (2020), directed by David Bickerstaff (March 4, 7, 8, 12, 18)
• A free forum (March 25), part of the MFA’s ongoing The City Talks series, discussing the historically male construction of the great artist in the “Me Too” era
• Drawing in the Galleries sessions with a live model (April 8, May 13, 6–9 pm), taking place inside the exhibition
• “Looking Together: Reflections on Self-Portraiture,” a series of three close-looking sessions (April, 16, 23, 30) with curators of the self-portraiture exhibitions on view at the MFA this spring; includes a session on April 16 specifically on Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits, led by curator Akili Tommasino
• An hour-long Curated Conversation with curator Akili Tommasino (April 19) 
• A self-portraiture masterclass with Brooklyn-based painter and draughtsman Jas Knight (May 14)

About the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Founded on February 4, 1870, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), stands on the historic homelands of the Massachusett people, a site which has long served as a place of meeting and exchange among different nations. The Museum opened its doors to the public on July 4, 1876—the nation’s centennial—at its original location in Copley Square. Over the next several decades, the MFA’s collection and visitation grew exponentially, and in 1909, the Museum moved to its current home on Huntington Avenue. Today, the MFA houses a global collection encompassing nearly 500,000 works of art, from ancient to contemporary, and welcomes approximately 1.2 million visitors each year to celebrate the human experience through art as well as innovative exhibitions and programs. In 2017, Matthew Teitelbaum, the 11th director in the Museum’s history, unveiled MFA 2020, a three-year Strategic Plan that articulated a forward-looking vision for the Museum to become an institution of the moment and more connected to the community. The spirit of collaboration and engagement at the core of MFA 2020 has been brought to life over the past three years through the implementation of more than 50 initiatives, the full slate of which will be realized during the Museum’s 150th anniversary year.

Open seven days a week, the MFA’s hours are Saturday through Tuesday, 10 am–5 pm; and Wednesday through Friday, 10 am–10 pm. Admission is free for MFA Members, University Members and youths age 17 and younger. Wednesday nights after 4 pm admission is by voluntary contribution (suggested donation $25) and is free to all visitors during Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Lunar New Year Celebration, Memorial Day, Free Fun Friday and Indigenous Peoples' Day. Admission (which includes one repeat visit within 10 days) is $25 for adults and $23 for seniors and students age 18 and older, and includes entry to all galleries and special exhibitions. The Museum’s mobile MFA Guide is available at ticket desks and the Sharf Visitor Center for $5, members; $6, non-members; and $4, youths. The Museum is closed on New Year’s Day, Patriots’ Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The MFA is located on the Avenue of the Arts at 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. For more information, call 617.267.9300, visit mfa.org or follow the MFA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.