Lucian Freud, a man who redefined the portrait, died on Wednesday July 20, 2011. He was as gifted at painting naked flesh as he was at capturing the essence of dogs. They often appeared with his subjects; entangled, sleeping, head and limbs heavy, with an insolent gaze. Supposedly Freud liked their arrogance and the way they relaxed his subjects and allowed him to see the animal in them. He was known to quote T.S. Eliot's Preludes:
I am moved by fancies that are curled
Around these images, and cling:
The notion of some infinitely gentle
Infinitely suffering thing.
Today, writer Gerry Cordon has posted a beautiful tribute to Lucian Freud and his dogs here. In 2007, I wrote about Lucian Freud's dog art, his Grandfather Sigmund Freud's relationship to his dogs, and his daughter Bella's dog-love here. See more photos of Lucian Freud's studio and his dogs by David Dawson here.
Rest in peace.
