Lucian Freud

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

London, Hayward Gallery, The Human Clay, 1976, no. 37
Oslo, Kunstnernes Hus; Humlebaek, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art; Venice, Museo d'Arte Moderna di Ca' Pesaro; Dusseldorf, Kunstmuseum; St. Etienne, Musée d'Art Moderne, A School of London: Six Figurative Painters, 1987-88, no. 35, p. 58
London, Hayward Gallery, Lucian Freud, 1988, no. 43
Oxford, Ashmolean Museum; Edinburgh, The Fruitmarket Gallery; Hull, Ferens Art Gallery; Liverpool,  Walker Art Gallery; Exeter, Royal Albert Memorial Museum; San Francisco, The Fine Arts Museum; Minneapolis Institute of Art; New York, Brooke Alexander Gallery; Cleveland Museum of Art; The Saint Louis Art Museum, Lucian Freud Works on Paper, 1988-1989, no. 43, illustrated in colour
Rome, Palazzo Ruspoli; Milan, Castello Sforzesca; Liverpool, Tate Gallery, Lucian Freud, Paintings and Works on Paper 1940-1991, 1991-92, p. 87, no. 60, illustrated in colour
Tochiyi, Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts; Nishinomiya, Otani Memorial Art Museum; Tokyo, Steagaya Art Museum; Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales; Perth, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Lucian Freud, 1992-93, no. 56, illustrated in colour

Lawrence Gowing, Lucian Freud, London 1984, p. 191, illustrated
Mark Holborn, Lucian Freud on paper, London 2008, nr. 119, illustrated in colour
Sebastian Smee & Richard Calvocoressi, Lucian Freud on Paper, London 2008, no. 119, illustrated in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality of the paper is slightly lighter in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. The paper is hinged to the mount at the top two corners. All four edges are deckled and there are artist's pinholes at all four corners. Close inspection reveals very soft undulation to the paper. There is a pin-sized spot of media accretion towards the centre of the top edge as visible in the catalogue illustration.
"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."

Used for the poster of Lucian Freud's Hayward Gallery retrospective in 1974 and directly related to the contemporaneous painting, Small Naked Portrait, belonging to Oxford's Ashmolean Museum, Drawing for a Naked Figure from 1973-74 depicts Freud's then girlfriend Jacquetta Eliot. Eliot has described the artist as "funny and clever, ardent, urgent, and fantastically intimate" and spoken of the unique charms of sitting for Freud as being "champagne on dirty floorboards" (cited in: William Feaver, Lucian Freud, New York 2007, p. 24). Also appearing in the large masterpiece Large Interior W9 of 1973 now housed at Chatsworth, Eliot's presence in Freud's work exudes a heightened degree of emotive tension. As accounted by William Feaver, for the artist, Eliot "brought overt emotional stress to the night-time sessions...she submitted herself with some resentment, letting her thoughts roam and drift", and that the artist's mother had heard her son's girlfriend smashing things in the next room (Exhibition Catalogue, London, Tate Britain, Lucian Freud, 2002, p.32). Intimating the aura of raw and fractured emotionality harboured by the Ashmolean painting, Drawing for a Naked Figure draws us in, succinctly manifesting the mantra that the artist once scrawled on his studio wall 'Urgent Subtle Concise'.