Since the model he so faithfully copies is not going to be hung up next to the picture... it is of no interest whether it is an accurate copy of the model.
Lucian FreudRead
I want paint to work as flesh... my portraits to be of the people, not like them. Not having a look of the sitter, being them ... As far as I am concerned the paint is the person. I want it to work for me just as flesh does.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Lucian Freud emphasizes the deep connection between paint and the essence of the subject in his portraits.
In this quote, Lucian Freud expresses his artistic vision where paint transcends mere representation of the sitter. He desires the paint to embody the essence of the person being portrayed, suggesting that the true nature of an individual can be captured not merely by their appearance but by the emotional and physical nuances that paint can convey as intimately as flesh itself.
Themes
ArtPaintPortraitsEssenceExpression
In practice
Example use cases
An artist's statement regarding their latest exhibition.
More from Lucian Freud
All quotes →When I look at a body it gives me choice of what to put in a painting, what will suit me and what won't. There is a distinction between fact and truth. Truth has an element of revelation about it. If something is true, it does more than strike one as merely being so.
Lucian FreudRead
It is the only point of getting up every morning: to paint, to make something good, to make something even better than before, not to give up, to compete, to be ambitious.
Lucian FreudRead
The character of the artist doesn't enter into the nature of the art
Lucian FreudRead
I paint people, not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be.
Lucian FreudRead
I could never put anything into a picture that wasn't actually there in front of me. That would be a pointless lie, a mere bit of artfulness.
Lucian FreudRead
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