A Painter's Progress: A Portrait of Lucian Freud

This is a gorgeous book, borrowed from a local library. 

A collection of very intimate moments photographed by Freud's assistant/model David Dawson. 

It's always fascinating to see painter's studios. You know, piles of crap everywhere, that kind of thing. 

But, I've never seen anything like his studio. Walls are covered with hardened oil paints which were added after cleaning a palette with a knife. 

It all looks like solidified lava running down the walls. 

There're very few texts in the book, which I liked. There's nothing to be explained here. Readers just see photos, and everything is there. 

I once attended a portrait class by Lewis Miller at NGV, and he explained Freud's painting approach. In this book, we can see how he developed his paintings, from an initial charcoal sketch, then gradually expands the area he works. In other words, he works in a small area until satisfied, rather than working in a whole canvas at the same time. It's very fascinating to see that. 

In his house, there are many paintings by Frank Auerbach (another my favourite). A sign of a great friendship between two giants in the history of modern British art and beyond.