Lucian Freud, O.M., C.H.

Gifted by the Artist to the present owner in 1978

Unexamined out of frame. The sheet does not appear fully laid down, but is adhered to a support mount in at least all four corners. The sheet is a leaf taken from a diary, with an unevenly cut left hand edge. There is slight cockling to the sheet. There are traces of staining, slight foxing, surface dirt and studio detritus to the sheet, with a slight pressure mark in the centre of the lower edge, visible upon very close inspection. This excepting the work appears in very good overall condition. Housed behind glass in a thick gilt frame, float-mounted in a card set-in mount. Unexamined out of frame. Please contact the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In 1976 the artist R.B. Kitaj coined the term ‘School of London’ to describe a group of artists working in London who pursued forms of figurative painting in the face of the ever-growing strength of avant-garde and abstract movements. At its heart stood the artists Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff, Francis Bacon, Michael Andrews and Lucian Freud, all of whom lived and worked within the capital, drawing inspiration from the people and the landmarks within it.

Whilst Kossoff, Auerbach and Andrews worked in both portraiture and landscape painting, Bacon and Freud remained largely focused on the former. Freud’s portraits caught the eye of the fashionable interior decorator Raymond Jones in the 1960s, and it was Raymond’s purchase of Freud’s portrait of George Dyer, the burglar who in 1963 broke into Francis Bacon’s studio and subsequently became the artist’s lover, that brought the pair into contact with each other. Freud was fascinated by Raymond – his quirky, mischievous character and his flowing Pre-Raphaelite hair. Freud introduced Raymond into his tight circle of artist friends, including Frank Auerbach and Michael Andrews. Freud painted Raymond over the course of several years, including most famously Naked Man With Rat (1977-78, Art Gallery of Western Australia), Freud’s first painting of a male nude, and Naked Man With His Friend (1978-80, Private Collection) which Geordie Grieg comments ‘were key to Lucian fearlessly marking his territory as a cold-eyed observer. They became crucial images in his canon.’ (Geordie Greig, Breakfast With Lucian, Farrar, Straus and Girous, New York, 2013, p.27).