In 1945, Graham Sutherland introduced Francis Bacon, a rising expressionist painter, to Lucian Freud. Apparently, the two became instant friends and met often at night, drinking, and gambling together. They were also reported to have lunch every day. While there was a thirteen-year age-gap, the two were very close in experience in art, which helped them grow together. They both painted portraits in surrealism and expressionism, but with marginally different methods. Freud was famous for taking particularly long with painting portraits, having his models pose for several months before a painting was completed. Bacon, on the other hand, painted very quickly. Mentioned in the article “Lucian Freud’s first drawings of Francis Bacon”, Freud had said, “He talked about packing a lot of things into a single brushstroke, which amused and excited me, and I realized that it was a million miles away from anything I could ever do.” Their friendship unfortunately fell off and they both publicly denounced each other’s art in 1982.

                However, the two artists painted each other several times throughout their friendship. One of these paintings, Three Studies of Lucian Freud, painted by Bacon in 1969, was sold in 2013 for 142 million dollars in New York, cementing their friendship in history.