.jpg?w=1)
拍品專文
Painted in 1941, Girl in a Quay is a rare and exciting early work by Lucian Freud that shows the young artist exploring the potential of portraiture, which would soon become his main subject and preoccupation. Painted when he was 19 years old, this picture depicts a young woman on the quay standing before a ship and the sea. Freud had come to England as an èmigrè from Berlin in 1933, and had retained a strong interest in travelling and the sea. In February 1941, using the money he won in a fabric design competition, Freud went to Liverpool's docks to secure a berth on a ship. "I liked the idea of adventure - the Ancient Mariner - but I was soon pretty desperate" (L. Freud quote in Lucian Freud, exh. cat., Tate Gallery, London 2002, p. 19). He signed up as an Ordinary Seaman on the SS Baltrover for an Atlantic convoy that sailed in March. He ingratiated himself with the crew by doing tattoos for them in Indian ink. He drew his fellow crew members and the sea as often as possible, but his month-long voyage led him to the realisation that as a sailor, "I was useless". After developing tonsillitis, a doctor signed his release and the adventure was over. After his experience as a Seaman, Freud returned to the East Anglian School of Drawing and Painting at Dedham, where he painted Hospital Ward, and started to try to get models from his portraits before painting Girl on the Quay.
This painting reflects the influence of Freud's teacher at the East Anglian School, Cedric Morris. Under Morris, Freud recalled that there was "No teaching much but there were models and you could work in your own room. In a funny way it was a bit like the Parisian art schools" (Ibid, p. 17). In these conditions, Freud laid the foundations for his career, observing Morris' assertive free painting from nature. Freud admired Morris' candid, often mocking portraits and his vigorous paintings of birds and flowers, created from the top downwards: "He'd do the background and the eyes and then he'd do the whole thing in one go and not touch it again. I thought Cedric was a real painter. Dense and extraordinary. Terrific limitations". (Ibid, p. 18).
During this period, Freud also came into contact with Peter Watson, the backer of Horizon magazine and an important patron to many artists including Freud himself. He had an important collection in London and Freud use to go to his flat to see the paintings and look through the magazines. Watson would buy Freud's paintings, and gave him money and books including the copy of Geschichte Aegyptens which was to be an important influence in his painting, and which is visible in Girl on the Quay.
This painting reflects the influence of Freud's teacher at the East Anglian School, Cedric Morris. Under Morris, Freud recalled that there was "No teaching much but there were models and you could work in your own room. In a funny way it was a bit like the Parisian art schools" (Ibid, p. 17). In these conditions, Freud laid the foundations for his career, observing Morris' assertive free painting from nature. Freud admired Morris' candid, often mocking portraits and his vigorous paintings of birds and flowers, created from the top downwards: "He'd do the background and the eyes and then he'd do the whole thing in one go and not touch it again. I thought Cedric was a real painter. Dense and extraordinary. Terrific limitations". (Ibid, p. 18).
During this period, Freud also came into contact with Peter Watson, the backer of Horizon magazine and an important patron to many artists including Freud himself. He had an important collection in London and Freud use to go to his flat to see the paintings and look through the magazines. Watson would buy Freud's paintings, and gave him money and books including the copy of Geschichte Aegyptens which was to be an important influence in his painting, and which is visible in Girl on the Quay.