For the first time in history the Royal Academy of Arts in London, in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, is bringing together Lucian Freud’s self-portraits. The exhibition will display more than 50 paintings, prints and drawings in which this modern master of British art turned his unflinching eye firmly on himself. One of the most celebrated painters of our time, Lucian Freud is also one of very few 20th-century artists who portrayed themselves with such consistency.

Spanning nearly seven decades his self-portraits give a fascinating insight into both his psyche and his development as a painter, from his earliest portrait painted in 1939 to the final one executed 64 years later. When seen together, his portraits represent an engrossing study into the dynamic of ageing and the process of self-representation. This intensely compelling exhibition creates a unique opportunity for revealing the life’s work of a master in one show.

"It has always been an ambition of ours to cover artists from a broad stretch of history, geography and genre. Our most recent film Leonardo: The Works was part of a major global event marking 500 years since the legendary artist’s death, but we have also made films about great modern masters - like David Hockney who is still making his mark on the art world today. Last season’s Van Gogh & Japan was a ground-breaking exploration of the unlikely relationship that sprung up between the Dutch artist and a nation halfway around the world, while we most recently filmed in Mexico for our upcoming production: Frida Kahlo. Looking at artists across such gulfs of time and space of course arises a myriad of interesting questions. How do we determine great artists of our own time? How has our definition of “great art” changed and how will it continue to do so? In 2500, who will be considered history’s greatest artists?
What, I believe, will remain constant is our conviction that great artists are defined by great passion, by their ability to carve out their own distinct (and
often revolutionary) style, and by their enchanting approach to storytelling . As far as we are concerned, this description paints a remarkably accurate portrait of Lucian Freud.
Freud’s intense and unflinching gaze has produced a body of powerful, figurative works that places him in the very forefront of great British painting.
Across a period of 64 years, he produced more than 50 paintings, drawings and prints of his own image; brought together in this landmark exhibition at the
Royal Academy of Arts in London, in this film we hope to bring one of Britain’s leading artists to cinema-goers around the world." Phil Grabsky, Director

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