Grandson to the great Sigmund Freud, Lucian was born in 1922, and had been searching for a muse. He was fascinated by the human form, the marks of a life, the characteristics of what makes someone someone. In an article from the Guardian, Bowery’s penis in the painting is described as a “violet-domed, wrinkly tube”. Bowery’s leg hangs over the left arm of the chair he is seated in, and his foot’s muscles and the skin stretched over them range in hues such as purple to grey to cream to pink, a myriad of colors for shadows and life in a 2-D form. He was known to portray his subjects with unparalleled intimacy and brutal honesty, with them sleeping, laying on the floor, or standing above the viewer. Freud had dreamed of finding a more permanent subject, a more consistent muse for his many art styles and similarly numerous ideas. In Freud’s mind, his choice of subject must be someone compelling, they must challenge what were considered “conventional” beauty standards, and above all, they must offer something that really drives them besides the pose they strike or the skin they exist beneath. And so began his friendship and work with Bowery.

 “Behind the Costumes: Lucian Freud’s Representations of Leigh Bowery: MyArtBroker: 

Article.” MyArtBroker, 

www.myartbroker.com/artist-lucian-freud/articles/lucian-freud-representa.... Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.

“Leigh Bowery (Seated), Lucian Freud (1990).” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 18 Nov. 2000, www.theguardian.com/culture/2000/nov/18/art.

“‘Lucian Freud Was Thrilled When Leigh Bowery Stripped Naked’: How a Wild Club Kid Became the Great Painter’s Muse.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 24 Feb. 2025, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/feb/24/leigh-bowery-lucian-freud-t....

“Sitting for Lucian: A British Model’s Memories of Freud.” Phillips, Accessed 23 Mar. 2025. www.phillips.com/article/15840995/lucian-freuds-sitter. 

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by Adria Schmidt

Leigh Bowery was an Australian artist born in 1961, and who, by the time he was 20, was a promoter and owner of the club Taboo in England. He was a performance artist best known for his large costumes, his flashy makeup, and his influence in the gay nightlife and fashion of Leicester, where the Taboo Club was located. Sue Tilley, his close friend, described him as “6ft 1in and well-fleshed.” She went on to say, “I think there was so much going on inside him that it made him bigger than he was. There was just so much for him to say and think about. He’d always been interested in learning things since he was very young – and getting his ideas out there.” At the club Taboo and various other bars and nightclubs, he was always the most outlandishly, extravagantly dressed. Bowery was known for his lavish facemasks, padded boobs and behinds, and in-your-face makeup. Most of his outfits included fabrics like velvet and tulle, while their patterns ranged from more “tasteful” solids to animal print, which sometimes was painted onto his face. Bowery truly saw his large array of skin as a massive canvas to express himself with. He met Freud in 1988, and became his muse and friend, as Freud would go on to create six separate works of art made depicting Bowery. Upon their first meeting, Tilley remarks “Lucian thought Leigh would want to be painted with one of his outfits on, so I think he was thrilled when Leigh turned up and just stripped naked.” The large man was a sight to behold, and in all the paintings depicting him, he would appear to be akin to Dionysus, lording over the viewer, even if the perspective holds him at eyeline. Throughout the process of these paintings, a timeline that spanned 1988 to 1994, Bowery was HIV positive. Seven months after a performance where he “married” his assistant Nicola Bateman in 1994, Bowery passed away.. His influence lives on, however, as the paintings depicting him are extremely valuable, and his impact on future performance artists, such as George Michael and Lady Gaga, is unchallenged.

 “Behind the Costumes: Lucian Freud’s Representations of Leigh Bowery: MyArtBroker: 

Article.” MyArtBroker, 

www.myartbroker.com/artist-lucian-freud/articles/lucian-freud-representa.... Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.

“Leigh Bowery.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Mar. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leigh_Bowery.

“‘Lucian Freud Was Thrilled When Leigh Bowery Stripped Naked’: How a Wild Club Kid Became the Great Painter’s Muse.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 24 Feb. 2025, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/feb/24/leigh-bowery-lucian-freud-t....

Naylor, Belinda. “Lucian Freud and Leigh Bowery: Creative Partners in Crime.” The World Of Interiors, THE WORLD OF INTERIORS, 27 Dec. 2024, www.worldofinteriors.com/story/leigh-bowery-and-lucian-freud-creative-partners-in-crime 

“Sitting for Lucian: A British Model’s Memories of Freud.” Phillips, Accessed 23 Mar. 2025. www.phillips.com/article/15840995/lucian-freuds-sitter.

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by Adria Schmidt

Painting Of Leigh Bowery (Seated) was begun and completed in 1990, and upon the work’s completion, it wouldn’t be shown publicly until 2002 at the Tate Britain. Freud’s work to follow with Bowery would be similarly powerful, with angles such as a worm’s eye view and styles like honest charcoal. This painting is different from the rest of these works. Where Bowerys other depictions have him facing away from the viewer, simply an observation by them, this painting has him staring directly at you. His forehead has deep wrinkles, and there are bags beneath his eyes. The skin of his stomach and sides is naturally framing his seated position, angled up the sides of the red chair he is seated on. One can truly see how his nude form sat in the chair, how his back and sides moved up with his downward motion. A leg is draped over the left arm, while the other rests its foot on the hardwood floor. His right hand is beneath his right leg, tucked against the warmth of his massive thigh. His left arm rests on the back of the chair, and Freud seems to have caught the exact moment his ring finger moved over the fabric. Is he feeling the texture of the chair? Stretching his fingers after remaining still for so long? The deep blue-green vein rising from his hand would stand out in other painter’s works, and yet it blends seamlessly into the rest of his arm. Thickly layered paint gives the skin the glow of life, while also remaining true to the dim light cast upon the room, a simply masterful work by Freud. 

Painting Of Leigh Bowery (Seated) is unlike Freud’s other work with Bowery for one very obvious reason, and one that I was really excited to find. This is the only picture of the six created by Freud to have Bowery looking directly out of the canvas. His eyes are not accusatory, nor proud, nor arrogant, as some of the other images painted of him would imply. Bowery seems to be nervous, if anything. Painted in 1990, Bowery could have no idea that he would die at the hands of a disease he could not stop. He had been diagnosed in 1988 and was aware that it was only a matter of time before he would lose his life to illness. It has been two years since this diagnosis, and with the newness of such a disease, his life expectancy is 3 years at max. Though he would live four years longer (twice the expected time frame), death is, at this point to Bowery, imminent. This could very well be the last painting Freud would make of him. He is centered in the portrait, and the angle descends upon him, instead of being on the level or below him as it usually is. He is still obviously a large man, but at this angle, he appears very small, very vulnerable. Bowery would go on to continue performing and posing for Freud’s paintings, and though this painting shows him exposed, even afraid, it is an extremely powerful piece. 

casier33@yahoo.com. “Lucian Freud | Leigh Bowery (Seated).” Flickr, Yahoo!, 9 Apr. 2025, www.flickr.com/photos/35925394@N08/15102543730.

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by Adria Schmidt