This is London Magazine February Edition 2026 - Flipbook - Page 22
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NPG 7195 Bella in her Pluto T-Shirt (etching), 1995
© The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved [2025]
/ Bridgeman Images. Collection: National Portrait Gallery
LUCIAN FREUD: DRAWING INTO
PAINTING
The National Portrait Gallery is to
present Lucian Freud: Drawing into
Painting, a major exhibition exploring
the work of one of the 20th century’s
foremost figurative artists. Running from
12 February, the exhibition brings
together 170 drawings, etchings, and
paintings, including many works
displayed for the first time.
Curated by Sarah Howgate, the
Gallery’s Senior Curator of
Contemporary Collections, in
collaboration with David Dawson, artist
and Director of the Lucian Freud
Archive, the exhibition traces Freud’s
lifelong engagement with drawing. While
widely celebrated as a painter, Freud’s
drawings reveal his obsessive
observational practice and offer unique
insight into his creative process.
Portrait of a Young Man, 1944, Lucian Freud, Black
crayon and chalk on paper, © The Lucian Freud Archive.
All Rights Reserved 2025 / Bridgeman Images.
Lent by a private collection
Highlights include childhood
sketches, 48 sketchbooks, letters, and
unfinished works from the Lucian Freud
Archive, containing not only studies of
his subjects but also personal notes,
motifs, and reflections on art.
The exhibition demonstrates how
drawing was not merely preparatory for
painting but an essential tool for
exploration.
Freud’s early linear observational
drawings of the 1940s evolved into the
expressive, highly finished works for
which he became renowned. After a
period focused predominantly on
painting from the 1950s to 1970s, he
returned to drawing and etching in the
1970s and 1980s, treating etching as an
extension of his draughtsmanship.
Notable works on display include
Watteau’s painting, Pierrot Content, an
important loan from the ThyssenBornemisza in Madrid, which will be
displayed alongside Freud’s sketches.
After Constable’s Elm will also be paired
with Constable’s original, highlighting
his dialogues with art history.
The exhibition is accompanied by a
publication featuring contributions from
Bella Freud, Colm Tóibín, and others.
Supported by the Huo Family
Foundation, Lucian Freud: Drawing into
Painting offers an unprecedented
opportunity to understand the intimate,
behind-the-scenes workings of a master
artist.
The National Portrait Gallery is a
short walk from Trafalgar Square, the
nearest tube station is Charing Cross.
For further information, visit the
website at www.npg.org.uk
T H I S I S L O N D O N M A G A Z I N E • T H I S I S L O N D O N O N L I N E • w w w. t i l . c o m • @ t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g
