Explore: Lucian Freud

(1922 - 2011)

Lucian Freud was born in Berlin, the grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. In 1933 when he was 11, the family fled Germany and settled in London. Largely a self-taught artist, since the mid 1940s Freud has contributed to countless solo and mixed exhibitions and is now regarded as Britain’s finest living figurative painter. In 1983 he was created a Companion of Honour and in 1993, awarded the Order of Merit. During 1993–94 a major retrospective opened at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London. In 2002, a critically acclaimed retrospective of his work was held at Tate Britain, London. Recent exhibitions include the Wallace Collection, London (2004); the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2007-08).