Ill in Paris

Lucian Freud

1948 · Etching · Drawings and Prints

While on a trip to Paris in 1946, Freud made his first etching. Ill in Paris, made two years later, is considered a masterpiece of this early period. Here Kitty Garman (British, 1926–2011), Freud’s first wife and frequent subject, stares at a thorny long-stemmed rose within a tightly cropped and compressed space. His beautifully drawn contours and uncanny compositions inspired critic Herbert Read to call Freud “the Ingres of Existentialism.” The production of his early prints was rather rudimentary: Freud etched images on prepared copper plates and used his hotel room sink for an acid bath. A local printer, found through Picasso’s nephew, Javier Vilató (Spanish, 1921–2000), pulled the proofs. Freud produced only six prints before 1949, at which time he abandoned the medium for several decades.

Artist

Lucian Freud

Date

1948

Medium

Etching

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Bequest of William S. Lieberman, 2005