The Lives of Lucian Freud : YOUTH 1922 - 1968
Regular price £34.95'The amoral antics of the painter, as reckless in life as he was fastidious in the studio, mesmerise in this lively account' - Financial Times, Books of the Year
The first of a two volume biography all about Lucian Freud's early childhood
Though ferociously private, Lucian Freud spoke every week for decades to his close confidante and collaborator William Feaver - about painting and the art world, but also about his life and loves. The result is this a unique, electrifying biography, shot through with Freud's own words.
In Youth, the first of two volumes, Feaver conjures Freud's early childhood: Sigmund Freud's grandson, born into a middle-class Jewish family in Weimar Berlin, escaping Nazi Germany in 1934 before being dropped into successive English public schools. Following Freud through art school, his time in the Navy during the war, his post-war adventures in Paris and Greece, and his return to Soho - consorting with duchesses and violent criminals, out on the town with Greta Garbo and Princess Margaret - Feaver traces a brilliant, difficult young man's coming of age. An account of a century told through one of its most important artists, The Lives of Lucian Freud is a landmark in the story its subject and in the art of biography itself.
Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2019.
Details
- Author: William Feaver
- Hardcover: 704 pages
- Date published: September 2019
- Language: English
- ISBN: 978-1408850930
- Product Dimensions: 24.3 x 16.7 cm
Reviews
'Here's a story to keep you stuck in that fireside seat . Follow the adrenaline-fuelled course of the first half of his fabulously unconventional, unscrupulously promiscuous, relentlessly ambitious and often fantastically scurrilous life as he swirls about in a milieu of grand society and riveting gossip. The second half of this biography is expected soon, so that's next Christmas sorted' - The Times, Picks of the Year
'An exceptional level of fact. a robust and intricate evocation of the man at work' - Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year
'A superb and engrossing book' - New Statesman, Books of the Year
'This is a tremendous read. Anyone interested in British art needs it . An extraordinary book' - New Statesman
The amoral antics of the painter, as reckless in life as he was fastidious in the studio, mesmerise in this lively account - Financial Times, Books of the Year
Superb, sparklingly intelligent - Daily Telegraph
'As gripping as any novel, illuminating both about Freud's work and about his fairly startling personal life' - Sunday Times
'The pleasure of this book is infernal' - Spectator, Books of the Year
