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拍品专文
Painted in 1982, during one of Lucian Freud’s most triumphant periods, Head of a Girl is an exquisite, jewel-like portrait of the artist Celia Paul. Through rich impasto, Freud seals the presence of his lover and muse in paint. Marbled tones of peach and rose capture the warmth of her skin; deep shadows and radiant flashes of white chart the play of light across her form, tracing the arc of her collarbone and the sweep of her long hair. The work was painted while Freud was completing his masterwork Large Interior, W11 (after Watteau) (1981-1983), which featured Paul. It is one of a total of six portraits that she sat for during their decade-long relationship, and a precursor to the sumptuous Girl in a Striped Nightshirt (1983-1985, Tate, London). Acquired from the artist by the present owner in 2000, the work featured in the major exhibition Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting at the National Portrait Gallery, London this year, having previously been unseen in public.
Born in India, where her parents were working as missionaries, Paul attended boarding school in rural Devon. She was a talented artist from a young age, and went on to study at the Slade School of Art in London. It was there that she first met Freud, who was serving as a visiting tutor in 1978. ‘There was a general air of excitement because he was visiting for the first time that day,’ she recalls, ‘and he was in great demand so I only got a chance to speak to him late in the afternoon … he was smoking a French cigarette and was very white-faced and wearing a beautiful grey suit’ (quoted in W. Feaver, The Lives of Lucian Freud: Fame 1968-2011, London, 2020, p. 125-126). Freud admired Paul’s drawings of her mother, and she later accompanied him to his studio to look at Two Plants (1977-1980, Tate, London), which was in progress at the time. The two began to see one another regularly, and struck up a relationship.
Freud’s first portrait of Paul was Naked Girl with Egg (1980-1981, British Council Collection, London). Shortly afterwards, she began sitting for Large Interior, W11 (after Watteau), taking her place alongside the artist’s daughter Bella, his former lover Suzy Boyt and his stepson Kai. Freud originally intended the present work to be a full-length nude, sketching the figure in charcoal on canvas. After completing the head, however, he decided to preserve it as it was: a beautiful and intensely-worked portrait of Paul’s face and shoulders. The detailed rendering of her hair and features, along with her downcast eyes, foreshadow elements of Girl in a Striped Nightshirt, which coincided with the birth of the couple’s son Frank. Paul, aged twenty-two at the time of the present work, described it as a ‘prescient’ portrait that made her look older. This was a feature of Freud’s practice, notes Catherine Lampert, and indeed of Paul’s own paintings (Lucian Freud: Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, vol. 3, London, 2025, p. 223).
It was during the 1980s, indeed, that Paul began to find her feet as an artist. According to William Feaver, both Gowing and Freud considered her ‘one of the best painters of her generation’ (ibid., p. 154). Freud’s final portrait of her, Painter and Model (1986-1987), paid tribute to this assessment, depicting her with paintbrush in hand. As her work took flight, Freud’s practice also ascended to new heights. In 1981 he featured in A New Spirit in Painting at the Royal Academy of Arts, London: a seminal group exhibition that propelled his work onto the international stage. In 1983, he was made a Companion of Honour. The works from these years are considered to represent some of the finest, defined by their meticulous technique and unflinching focus on the people closest to him. Paul, whose image took centre stage during this period, would continue to remain in his life: she saw him regularly during his final weeks, including on the day he died. Head of a Girl stands as a vivid reminder of their relationship, every detail intimately and lovingly observed.
Born in India, where her parents were working as missionaries, Paul attended boarding school in rural Devon. She was a talented artist from a young age, and went on to study at the Slade School of Art in London. It was there that she first met Freud, who was serving as a visiting tutor in 1978. ‘There was a general air of excitement because he was visiting for the first time that day,’ she recalls, ‘and he was in great demand so I only got a chance to speak to him late in the afternoon … he was smoking a French cigarette and was very white-faced and wearing a beautiful grey suit’ (quoted in W. Feaver, The Lives of Lucian Freud: Fame 1968-2011, London, 2020, p. 125-126). Freud admired Paul’s drawings of her mother, and she later accompanied him to his studio to look at Two Plants (1977-1980, Tate, London), which was in progress at the time. The two began to see one another regularly, and struck up a relationship.
Freud’s first portrait of Paul was Naked Girl with Egg (1980-1981, British Council Collection, London). Shortly afterwards, she began sitting for Large Interior, W11 (after Watteau), taking her place alongside the artist’s daughter Bella, his former lover Suzy Boyt and his stepson Kai. Freud originally intended the present work to be a full-length nude, sketching the figure in charcoal on canvas. After completing the head, however, he decided to preserve it as it was: a beautiful and intensely-worked portrait of Paul’s face and shoulders. The detailed rendering of her hair and features, along with her downcast eyes, foreshadow elements of Girl in a Striped Nightshirt, which coincided with the birth of the couple’s son Frank. Paul, aged twenty-two at the time of the present work, described it as a ‘prescient’ portrait that made her look older. This was a feature of Freud’s practice, notes Catherine Lampert, and indeed of Paul’s own paintings (Lucian Freud: Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, vol. 3, London, 2025, p. 223).
It was during the 1980s, indeed, that Paul began to find her feet as an artist. According to William Feaver, both Gowing and Freud considered her ‘one of the best painters of her generation’ (ibid., p. 154). Freud’s final portrait of her, Painter and Model (1986-1987), paid tribute to this assessment, depicting her with paintbrush in hand. As her work took flight, Freud’s practice also ascended to new heights. In 1981 he featured in A New Spirit in Painting at the Royal Academy of Arts, London: a seminal group exhibition that propelled his work onto the international stage. In 1983, he was made a Companion of Honour. The works from these years are considered to represent some of the finest, defined by their meticulous technique and unflinching focus on the people closest to him. Paul, whose image took centre stage during this period, would continue to remain in his life: she saw him regularly during his final weeks, including on the day he died. Head of a Girl stands as a vivid reminder of their relationship, every detail intimately and lovingly observed.