Love Lucian: The Letters of Lucian Freud 1939-1954

This volume brings together Freud’s early letters, gathered with the endorsement of the Freud estate, from both private collections and public archives, including the Freud Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Tate. Ranging from schoolboy notes to his parents to his early recognition as a professional artist, the letters, which often feature drawings and characterful visual quirks, present the multiple facets of Freud’s complex personality.

Coauthored by David Dawson, Freud’s longstanding personal assistant and now director of the Lucian Freud Archive, and Martin Gayford, author, critic, and acquaintance of Lucian Freud, these extraordinary, illustrated letters are reproduced in facsimile alongside striking reproductions of Freud’s works of this period. Linked by a narrative that weaves the letters and paintings into the story of his life, including his first marriage and separation, this book provides an intimate and fresh perspective on the first three decades of the artist’s life.