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Freud Has Died

Sad news.  Lucian Freud, one of the greats of British post-war painting, has died, at the age of 88.  I had the pleasure to see him several times as he dined at his table at The Wolseley.  Yesterday, according to The Guardian, that table was draped in a black cloth with a single candle on it.  Freud, whose paintings sold for tens of millions, was famously linked to Sigmund Freud, his grand-father.  I recall studying his work in art history class back at college in Montreal; we were all taken aback by and impressed with his attention to genitals, and to the gross realities of human fleshiness.  Later, in London, I looked into his late self-portrait and recognized in its slashes of dark colours genius, and dark self-reflection.  Genius can be complicated, strange, ugly, and attractive, all at once, in a compelling way; the best art usually is.  I am not sure Freud was a person you'd want to meet unless you were a beautiful woman, or someone to model for him, or a close friend; he emanated a sense of danger.  I am glad to have seen him at a distance; and to have seen his paintings up close.  One of his children, Annie Freud, is one of the best English poets of her generation; my condolences to her and the rest of his family.
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Dennis Tomlinson said…
Lucien Freud was the greatest living British artist. He showed people as they really are, in all their beauty and ugliness.
Fri Jul 22, 04:19:00 pm 2011
Poetry Pleases! said…
Dear Todd

My artist wife Rusty was a big fan of Lucian Freud. He was, in some ways, Britain's answer to Picasso. Although his children won't be left poor by his passing, it is a sad loss to the art world in general.

Best wishes from Simon
Fri Jul 22, 07:15:00 pm 2011
Unknown said…
Amy Winehouse just died, too, apparently. I am not making this up: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jul/23/amy-winehouse-found-dead-27
Sun Jul 24, 07:56:00 am 2011
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