Woman with Eyes Closed 2002

Editor: This is Lucian Freud's "Woman with Eyes Closed," painted in 2002, rendered in thick strokes of oil paint. I find myself drawn into this really intimate moment, it almost feels intrusive. What’s your take on this piece? Curator: Intrusive...yes! Freud really cornered the market on intimacy, didn’t he? The impasto – the thickness of the paint – is like the weight of looking, almost pressing into her skin. He builds this intense vulnerability by refusing to romanticize. Look how unflinchingly he renders her – the almost fleshy tones, the lack of idealization. It’s brutal, in a way, but brutally honest. What do you think the closed eyes signify? Editor: Perhaps a sort of surrender? A refusal to meet the viewer's gaze. Like she’s creating her own private world. Curator: Exactly! She is holding on to her personal space and she decides to exclude you from the scene! It's almost confrontational through its avoidance, isn't it? It also, oddly enough, intensifies the focus on the rest of her face, like the little crevice on her left cheek! It is easy to lose yourself, and think as an invisible presence. The more I consider it, the more her solitude seems almost aggressive in its privacy. Editor: I didn't really think of it that way. It almost feels… selfish, in a strange way? Like she's actively denying something. Curator: And maybe she is! Perhaps denying us the satisfaction of seeing her vulnerable, the relief of finding someone else exposed. In this particular composition, and the use of modernism techniques such as expression, it goes to show that what looks like solitude is an intense state of refusal and inner dialogue. It's wonderful! Editor: Wow, I will never look at someone who closes their eyes, with the same perspective, again! Thanks for sharing this piece. Curator: My pleasure, I’ve been thinking more and more about solitude as of late... thanks for this introspective chat!