Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Julian Bell About Lucian Freud
This article by Julian Bell about the recent Lucian Freud show is written with an intensity and caring that is admirable. Bell, a painter himself, feels strongly about the issues raised by Freud's work and, by implication, about the value of the medium of painting itself.
I can't say I agree with all of Bell's judgments — they seem to make too much of Freud's own statements about his work, to which Bell responds with great energy and subtlety. But Freud's statements themselves seem something of a deflection to me — perhaps even manipulations. Freud's work is another matter — more substantial, but also dubious in many of the ways in which Bell points out. Bell's own depth of instruction in literature infuses the piece with a fine-grained, satisfyingly complete quality. As Bell notes about himself, he was early influenced by Freud, and so the struggle in the review has a layered complexity; “killing the father” as Bell puts it, and also sorting out his own feelings as he considers this mature artist.
Here is a link to Bell's own work.