"One of the best books ever written by one painter about another." — John Russell, The New York Times

First published in 1982, Lawrence Gowing’s Lucian Freud is an intimate portrayal of one of the twentieth century’s most exceptional artists. At once a pivotal narrative, a furtive autobiography, and a profound exploration of what it means to think through paint, this book represents a historically significant collaboration between two of modern art’s brightest minds.

Drawing on forty years of friendship—as well as his own painterly intuition—Gowing’s commentary pushes language to the very edge of meaning, evoking the richness of Freud’s art with poetic incisiveness as he locates, within the paint itself, “a coiled vigilance and … a serpentine litheness in the ready, rapid way in which an object was confronted.”

Freud’s deep involvement in the original book offers rare insight into the artist as he was in the 1980s. The conversations and questions that shape Gowing’s text produced some of Freud’s most memorable and widely quoted reflections, while Freud’s choice and grouping of paintings and drawings reveal unexpected connections across his works, as seen through his eyes.

Completely redesigned and reissued after many years out of print, this book remains a landmark publication on Lucian Freud.