88. New Perspectives on Lucian Freud With his friend and assistant David Dawson and curator Dr. Daniel Herrmann

Break Out Culture With Ed Vaizey by Country and Town House

This December marks the centenary of the artist Lucian Freud’s birth. To celebrate, the National Gallery has gathered around 60 of his works, spanning seven decades, from all over the world to mount New Perspectives, an important exhibition that encompasses the best of his work from the early 1940s till his death in 2011. The show is a magnificent tour-de-force and on this week’s podcast, we’re delighted to be in conversation with curator Dr. Daniel Herrmann about what New Perspectives reveals about Freud’s art and character, so often overshadowed by our preconceptions.

We’re also thrilled to be talking to the artist and photographer, David Dawson, Freud’s long-term friend, confidant, and assistant. From 6th October, Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert in Bury Street St. James is exhibiting some of Freud’s rarely seen drawings, etchings, and metal etching plates, alongside some of David’s never-before-seen photographs, many of them taken in the days leading up to and immediately after Freud’s death. The photographs present an intimate, gentle, and affectionate portrait of the artist and David talks movingly of Freud’s last days and his tender relationship with his mother as well as his friendship with other major artists and the subjects of his paintings. Thanks to Daniel and David, we gain a real insight into Lucian Freud’s personality as well as his paintings and working methods. Between them, Daniel and David provide an invaluable introduction to these two exhibitions that are not to be missed.