Freud began this painting while working on a full-length double portrait of the same two men in which the naked figure is standing. He became so absorbed in this work that he temporarily put aside the larger painting. As in many of Freud's paintings, the scene at first seems peaceful but is fraught with underlying tension. The pose of the clothed man who gently rests his hand on the other's calf looks casual, yet is slightly provocative.
Lucian Freud (British, 1922 - 2011)
Freud was born in Berlin, the grandson of Sigmund Freud. His family moved to England in 1933. Freud's work from the 1940s has a hallucinatory quality derived from his interest in Surrealism. In the late 1950s his meticulous style gave way to a broader handling of paint, richer colours and the dramatic use of light. However his art was always based on observation of the real world. Although Freud distanced himself from the art world, his work is highly sought-after and he was widely regarded as the world's leading figurative painter of his time.
