lucien freud resource

Looking at Drawing through

LUCIAN FREUD

All About Freud...

Born in Berlin (December 8th

1922) and came to England with parents before the war (1933)

In April 1940, Freud's name was put

before the public for the 1st time in the 3rd

issue of CyrilConnolly’s magazine

‘Horizon’

He discovered a love for painting

He is still alive

today

His early years were simple and untroubled, with plenty of time for

his active imagination to wander freely!

20th Century ArtistHe is known as ‘the greatest figurative painter of our

time’.

NOT to be mixed up with the psychologist Sigmund Freud

(his grandfather)

What does this mean?‘Since the arrival of abstract art the term figurative has been used to refer to any form of modern art that retains strong references to the real world and particularly to the human figure. In a general sense figurative also applies retrospectively to all art before abstract art.’www.tate.org.uk

The female nude remains the most powerful form in Freud’s work. He liked to KNOW the person, rather than have a paid

model so he tended to use friends, lovers and relatives.

Freud seemed to celebrate the naked body as a whole; covered in light and life, without deceit or cunning, just the

uncovered honesty of female flesh

BUT...Obviously not

appropriate for young children

to see

He also liked to paint…

SO...Could take sections of

skin to study instead

"I could never put anything into a picture that wasn't actually there in front of

me. That would be a pointless lie, a mere bit of

artfulness."

"I paint what I see, not what you want me

to see"

He enjoyed the reality of havingsomeone in front of him to copy

directly:

THIS IS SUCH A GOOD EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW.

NEED TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR

CHILDREN TO PRACTISE THIS

He worked with his subjects on portraits very slowly. Subjects described the

experience of sitting for him as “very intense” but others

have said how he makes them special, that he gives

everything to them until the process is over.

Timeline of Freud’s work Early pencil works, still life – detailed portraits

1940 2007

Loch Ness from Drumnadrochit

Stephen SpenderWoman with a daffodil

1950

Girl in a green dress

Girl in a fur coat

New Yorker

Stanley SpencerJohn MintonSamuel PalmerChuck Close

Other artists with a similar style…IN PAINTING

ALL VERY REALISTIC

• Look at portraits by other artists – How have the artists conveyed ideas about themselves? How do the artists show themselves? As a painter? As a mother? As a friend? As a person with status? Ask the children to suggest why portraits are made, e.g. to record an important time in a person's life, to project a powerful image of the person, to portray individuals as wealthy, knowledgeable or hard working.’

• Make a collection of photos of the class- Baby photos/current photos: How have they changed?

• Face proportionsHow many noses make up the whole length of the head? Where are the eyes positioned in relation to the ears? Etc.

Unit of Work – SELF PORTRAITS

Kathe KollwitzPortrait of Mark

Gertler (Unknown Artist)Adrian Piper

Jean-francois Millet

Adolf Von Menzel Henri Matisse

SIMILAR ARTISTS

The Refugees

(1941)

THE REFUGEES (1941)Oil painting. Very rigid composition. Strong contrast between dark clothing and background to light faces. This creates an eerie effect. Sad faces.

- Obvious link to the war: great opportunity for some cross-curricular work. How does the picture make you feel?

- Could talk about why Freud has given the people completely white faces. Although this is not 100% realistic what effect does it give.

Talking about the work

Task . . .

• Get children to try to recreate the image but with their own people (friends or family) – use dark colours for clothing and very light colours for the facesOR

• Children draw individual ‘head and shoulder’ portraits in the style of Freud and then joined together to form a whole class portrait. Completed in blacks, greys and white

A boy with a pipe (1943)

A boy with a pipe (1943)Pencil drawing. Simple yet effective technique. Small areas of shadow draw the viewer into the picture. Person placed to one side. Nothing in the background.

-This a great starting place for children when looking at portraiture. There is not a lot of detail – the focus is on the outline of the figure.

Talking about the work

Task...

• Could introduce the children to continuous line drawings and encourage them to try this technique.

• Speed/timed drawings: give children specific time slots (2 mins, 40 secs etc) to draw a partner in sketch book.

Man at Night (1947/8)

Man at night (1947/48)-Pen and ink

-Simplistic drawing – features have been simplified but exaggerated

-Basic use of shadow in background – contrasts against the light face

-Figure slightly to one side.

Talking about the work

Task...

• On whiteboard, get children to pick out shapes that they can see (e.g. Triangle in the nose).

• Look at cubism and artists such as Picasso.• Can they draw their face using different

shapes that they have looked at in maths?

A Woman Painter (1954)

Talking about the work

A woman painter (1954)-Incredibly realistic-Fantastic use of tone-Expression (caught in the moment)-Bold contrast between light face and background with dark clothing-Captured texture of the skin

Task...

• Take photos of the children and print them off so that they have one each/between two. Use viewfinders to pick out a small section of face. Draw an enlarged version of it an focus on tone: Where are the light areas? Dark areas? What shapes can you see?

Useful Resources

A Step-by-step guide on how to draw a face:http://www.theartgallery.com.au/kidsart/activities/draw/face/

Art lesson on drawing

Edit photos to make them look like work from a particular movement:

www.befunky.com

Teaching to Draw(teacher notes)

http://drawsketch.about.com/cs/kidsdrawing/a/teachkids.htm

…for personal skillsAND for use within the classroom

Artist Workshops:http://www.artisancam.org.uk/pages/workshops.php?artist=chun

• http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes2/art/art1a/01aq1?view=get

• http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=104

MATHS- Dimensions of face/other body parts- Shapes within the face (could look at cubism OR create a face using

2D shapes

HISTORY- Time period in which the art work was done- Look at content – Was it influenced by anything during that time

(e.g. War)

PSHE- Why are people different? How can we tell from their appearances?

Cross-curricular learning

I hope that this resource is useful for you in your

teaching