Head of a Girl 1976

Lucian Freud made this ‘Head of a Girl’ using oil on canvas, and you can see how he builds up the form bit by bit. There’s a real sense of process, almost like he’s sculpting the face with paint. Look closely, and you’ll notice how the texture of the paint varies. In some areas, like around the eyes, the paint is applied thinly, creating delicate shadows. Then, in other areas, like the hair, the paint is much thicker, with visible brushstrokes that give the hair volume and movement. See the way he’s built up the paint around the bridge of the nose and the brow, with all those subtle variations of tone? It’s these details that bring the portrait to life. Freud reminds me of a painter like Alice Neel, in the way they both capture the raw, human presence of their sitters. There is so much honesty in his mark making, nothing feels hidden or prettified.