Lucian Freud—grandson of Sigmund—is a painter who deals in human imperfection. In the “Lucian Freud: The Painter’s Etchings” exhibition, on display at Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art until March 13th, the artist’s consummate skill and lifelong devotion to the human body are obvious. The exhibition pairs etchings with paintings of the same subject, which the two media usually treat from different angles and in different sittings. The people they illustrate, however, are undeniably the same. Freud’s methods defy explanation: his meticulous yet assured layering of color produces an image clotted with thick shapes. Seen from close up, these component pieces of Freud’s painting look abstract and gestural. But as we move backwards, they undergo an astonishing transformation, becoming livid, fleshy, and breathtakingly real representationalist portraits. The etchings—prints made by inking in abrasions on a sheet of metal, then putting it through a printing press—display the same effect, with patterns of cross-hatching and intersecting planes that only coalesce at a certain distance.
Freud’s subjects are as gutsy as his style. He finds beauty in the opposite of the classical ideal, modeling obese nudes and the elderly, as well as deliberately ugly or non-descript faces in his portraits. The artist does not intend to emphasize any concepts of ugliness, however. With his vivid juxtaposition of colors generating astonishing illusions of depth, texture and mass, the intimacy and vulnerability of naked flesh become beautiful unto themselves.
Particularly striking are Freud’s male nudes, men of unremarkable figure and appearance that nonetheless become, when painted, incredibly artistically compelling. The humanity in Freud’s portraits is in the ample and blemished skin, fat and muscle that clothe his subjects: these are bodies as the world sees them, not the heroes of Michelangelo or Calvin Klein.
Freud may not be for everyone. The coarse brushstrokes and layered technique do not generate fine, classically crystalline work, and the visceral impact of so many non-idealized bodies can be unnerving. Additionally, the few landscapes exhibited lack the vitality and arresting quality of his portraits. Yet, undeniably, Freud is a truly original master. The juxtaposition of painting and etching reveals his command of both techniques, and the common elements in both media prove Freud’s ability to translate a singular way of seeing onto canvas and paper.
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