Head of an Irishman
Lucian Freud
British, born Germany. 1922–2011
1999
An etching in which Lucian Freud renders a seated Irishman's head with dense, carved lines and stark tonal contrasts, aiming to reveal the sitter's physical presence and inner life.
Up close the plate's cross-hatched strokes, heavy shadows and sudden white highlights read like skin mapped by light, making the face feel both sculptural and vulnerably alive.
A late work in Freud's printmaking, it translates his thick, tactile painting style to etching and helped extend his uncompromising psychological realism into the medium of prints.
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
plate: 29 1/4 x 22 1/4" (74.3 x 56.5 cm); sheet: 38 1/4 x 30 3/4" (97.2 x 78.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Monroe Wheeler Fund
Accession
282.2007
Palette
Exhibitions
