Changing Styles for Lucian Freud

Nobel prize in literature

Bertrand Russell won the nobel prize in literature for his varied and significant writings. The nobel prize is awarded for iddealistic work. Idealism is a push towards creativty and imagination.  Like Freud's varied art it began to look more idealistic. The girl with the white dog varied from his typical art. Around the time Russell won the nobel prize for his varied style, Freud began his work. Russel's work that he won the Nobel prize for expressed Humanitariean ideals and freedom of thought. Freuds painting clearly shows a freedom of thought also with the a seemingly normal painting but then has one breast showing to show the unusual to the seemingly normal. The painting and this event can be linked due to the expression both of the freedom of thought and change. Art is also a form of literature which could have influence Freud's style of art. Interesting enough, but not necessarily related directly to the two literatures, but more on the creators they both were married and divorced multiple times. Which in Freud's case his divorce added to his art style. 

“Bertrand Russell.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Mar. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell.

“Nobel Prize in Literature.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Feb. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Literature.

Festival of Britain

The festival attracted millions of people to Britain. The festival was a time for celebration. It was also a great time for the people to show off their creations like Freuds artwork and other genius people to showcase their work. "The festival became a beacon for change". It was helping to reinvent art syles in Britain. One event that occured at the Festival of Britain was the first Miss World beauty pagent which this event could have pushed Freud to indulge in the nude paintings that he began to create starting with The Girl with the White Dog. The pagent displayed beutiful women and bikini contests that might fancy a man that is unfaithful like Freud.  We know that Freud had many infidelities, so seeing these women in the beauty pagent could have paved the way for his change in style. This festival was a great time to be given new ideas, but also to show off the work that was already done. The festival was separted into sections by the skill or subject matter, so artists that could influence Freud and artwork would all be in one place being more convenient. 

“Festival of Britain.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Mar. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_of_Britain.

“Miss World.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Mar. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_World.

Divorce

In 1952, Lucian Freud and his first wife Kitty filed for divorce. The divorce was due to the infidelity of Freud himself. The painting of The Girl with the White Dog  did use his wife Kitty as the model. The absent stare Kitty had in the painting could be related to their impending end to their marriage. The painting was meant to feel intimate but her face almost contradicts this feeling. Her position in the painting shows her unhappiness within their marriage. The painting was done in the same year that the divorce occured. Although the painting is meant to be intimate the title does not give the same feeling. The problems in their marriage definitely could have influenced Freud's art change. As before his paintings were not consisting of nudity. Another painting he made this same time was a boy smoking. Therefore his infidelity and problems in his marriage could have drawn him to put the breast showing, but also iclude the blank expression on his wife's face. 

“Divorce.” Find Free Legal Help and Social Services in Tennessee, 16 July 2020, https://www.help4tn.org/divorce.

Freud, Lucian. “Girl with a White Dog, C.1951 - C.1952 - Lucian Freud.” Www.wikiart.org, 1 Jan. 1970, https://www.wikiart.org/en/lucian-freud/girl-with-a-white-dog.

Tate. “'Girl with a White Dog', Lucian Freud, 1950–1.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/freud-girl-with-a-white-dog-n06039.

The reason I offered these three events is to give you some background on what was occuring when Freud began this painting and was in the making of it. These three events let you understand the things that influenced his art style change. Freud's style use to not include nudity. His means of making the painting stayed the same as he always used people he was close to, but he engaged more in this photo with Kitty's facial expression. Her facial expression in his painting was hinting towards the unhappiness of their relationship that was coming to an end. He was also influenced to change his style due to the Nobel prize being awarded for changing styles. This was a great time for him to change his style with the festival of Britain occurring so it was easily accessible to publicize his work. With the first beauty pageant occurring and the unfaithful tendencies that Freud had could inspire his work towards nudity. Which after this painting we see further progress into many more nude paintings. The divorce of the model Kitty and Freud and the finishing of this painting occurred in the same year which would very much explain the emptiness on her face in the painting.