A Painter's Progress: A Portrait of Lucian Freud

Wonderful book. Very pleased the condition and quality. The photos are very detailed, I hope to be able to view the originals some day.

This review is written by Christopher's wife, Christine Zachary.As a painter myself and admirer of the work of Lucian Freud, I've read many books and articles about him. I checked most out of the library, but actually purchased this book after getting it from the library as I think it is something valuable to another artist, and it has been made and compiled by a remarkable artist himself, David Dawson.David Dawson must be quite an interesting person to have spent so much time with Lucian Freud and to have helped make it possible for a genius like Freud to paint more easily due to Dawson's assistance. He also took the many photos which comprise this book. The photos are extremely beautiful, arresting works of art in and of themselves. I wonder actually whether Dawson isn't a natural photographer rather than a painter as they are all such good compositions and use light and shade much as Lucian himself used it in his paintings.I had to own the book for the photos and for Dawson's very tasteful reticence to gossip or write much at all. I believe that an artist deserves to have a certain amount of privacy attached to his life. What after all do we know about Shakespeare or many great painters. Do we really need to know all the stuff about Van Gogh when his sunflowers are perhaps "enough". There is already too much written about Freud. (in my view of course) Dawson simply lets himself and the artist he is depicting speak for themselves.I hope Mr. Dawson will do another book of photos, and again recommend this book wholeheartedly.

I had been a fan of L. Freud since the seventies when I first saw his paintings at the Camberwell Art College back then. I picked up his "Lucian Freud: Life into art" by William Feaver back in 2002-3; a catalogue of his selected show (1939-2002) at the "Tate Gallery", London, UK. I was not disappointed then nor am I disappointed in this current/ posthumous "A Painter's Progress". He has truly earned every accolade which he has received over these long, productive years of his artistic life. This is a picture book of his work; possibly more accurately described as a coffee table type picture, rather than a biographical record I at first thought. Even so: I am very pleased to have it in my home library.

You cannot help but be a little disappointed in this book when none of the reviews tell you that there is hardly any written content. It is basically a picture book. I'll agree that the photos are revealing, that the content is appealing, and the potential was so astounding! But the letdown, when you are done reviewing the photos, and have so many questions about the man, about the author, about the work. Little is said, which kind of makes you feel that the author is angling for a future "tell all" to bring in additional cash.

Freud is a fasinating artist. This book reveals much about his personal life.

A very handsome book that captures the unique ambiance of Lucien Freud's equally unique life and studio.

I'm a great admirer of Lucian Freud's work and find the story of his life fascinating. David Dawson, who was Freud's assistant for two decades, had a unique and privileged perspective. His wonderful book of photographs with occasional recollections and reminiscences transports me into Freud's world and final days. It is a welcome addition to my library of art and photography books.

Excellent book because of David Dawson's access to Freud's studio, his working process and his daily life. Not redundant to other Duncan photographed books on the artist. If you like Freud, you will certainly enjoy this book.

Book was everything l hoped it would be. Good quality

Xmas

This is a nicely presented book which, if you’re the pretentious type, will look good on the coffee table. The contents however leave something to be desired. First thing to be said is that David Dawson is not a particularly good photographer - I don’t suppose he would claim to be - so what we’re presented with are snaps rather than photos. Nothing wrong with that, in fact it adds a sort of intimacy, but the problem is that they’re not accompanied by any intimate text; one doesn’t want gossip, but a little more information wouldn’t go amiss. There is, for instance, Kate Moss tucked up in bed with Freud, a charming snap, but how and why? Did Freud approach Moss with regard to her portrait or did she approach him? There are three snaps of Parker-Bowles with no mention of his name, he’s simply referred to as the Brigadier. There’s Freud chatting with Stella McCartney; did they know each other, were they pals? And Damian Hirst, was he a mate? And the bearded Freud lying on a couch covered with a sheet, is he dead or merely sleeping? The other frustrating thing for me was the number of snaps that were superfluous. There are for example almost twenty full page snaps of Gallery staff manhandling Freud’s paintings in preparation for an exhibition; surely one or two would suffice. There are four full page snaps of a plump naked woman prancing around like an eejit for no apparent reason, five shots of another naked woman lying on a bed. None of this represents ‘a painter’s progress’ or adds to our knowledge of Freud or his working methods, if you want that far better to buy the superb book by Martin Gayford ‘Man with a Blue Scarf’ which, incidentally, carries a number of the David Dawson snaps. At best looking through this book is akin to looking through a friend’s photo album; it’s not something one's going to repeat very often.

very good

Bought for a present lovely book good price delivered as details I'm sure it will be well rceived