Lucian Freud - David Dawson, Joseph Leo Koerner, Jasper Sharp, Sebastian Smee

The artist stripped bare by himself: Lucian Freud's self-portraits redefine the genreIn 1964 Lucian Freud set his students at the Norwich College of Art an assignment: to paint naked self-portraits and to make them "revealing, telling, believable ... Visceral, unflinching and often nude, Freud's self-portraits chart his biography and give us an insight into the development of his style.These paintings provide the viewer with a constant reminder of the artist's overwhelming presence, whether he is confronting the viewer directly or only present as a shadow or in a reflection. really shameless." It was advice that the artist was often to follow himself.

In this volume, essays by leading authorities, including those who knew him, explore Freud's life and work, and analyze the importance Freud's exploration of the self-portrait is unexpected and wide-ranging.