Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits

Lucian Freud: The Self Portraits is the first exhibition to concentrate on the celebrated British painter’s self-portraits, one of the most sustained achievements of the artist’s career. 

Executed over almost seven decades, they chart a trajectory through Freud’s development as a painter: from his early, linear and graphic works to the fleshier painterly style that became the hallmark of his mature work. They also chart a life’s journey, from young boy to old man, in what was effectively an ongoing study of the process of aging and the changes it inflicted on his own physical form. 

Few other artists in the 20th century have portrayed themselves with such consistency. Freud’s self-portraits place him in a long lineage of artists, from Dürer and Rembrandt onwards, who made self-portraiture a recurring feature of their practice. 

The exhibition of around 50 paintings, prints and drawings spans his entire career. Organized by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, Lucian Freud: The Self Portraits will be the first exhibition in Boston dedicated to the work of Freud.​

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website