Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This publication accompanies a major retrospective of the work of Lucien Freud at the Tate Britain. Freud was born in 1922 and the exhibition spans his career, featuring both past and present artworks."

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

This copiously illustrated volume showcases over 60 years of the work of one of the world's greatest figurative artists. Selected in collaboration with Lucian Freud himself, the 380 paintings of nudes, cityscapes, interiors, and etchings are reproduced in beautiful color images. Feaver, former art critic for the Observer, follows the development of Freud's art, showing how the artist broadened from a linear style in the 1950s to the more painterly, dense, and expansive style characteristic of his mature work. Also emphasized are the revealing nude portraits of Freud's own family and friends. Four interviews with the artist offer revealing glimpses into his working methods, such as why he preferred focusing on forms and rhythms. The volume is laden with both engaging text and images. But its price is steep, making it most suitable for large university and museum libraries. Robert Hughes's Lucian Freud: Paintings is another, less expensive option.-Sandra Rothenberg, Framingham State Coll., MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

This testament to the massive oeuvre of one of Europe's most celebrated painters begins with an illuminating biographical sketch by Feaver (former art critic for the Observer), which depicts Freud's journey from favorite son to mediocre student, from reveling womanizer to husband and father. Readers looking for a window into Freud's remarkable method and vision will benefit from the extensive quotes in this section, as well as the four interviews provided. The paintings themselves, richly reproduced, are intense portraits featuring a dark conflict between stark realism and profound emotional pull; his figures, usually nude, capture the vacancy and impact of death in their alarmingly static expressions. Freud's self-taught skill and precision are evident on every page in his careful, heavy brushstrokes (he often cleaned the brush after each stroke) and representational precision. Coming into fruition in the era of pop art and abstract expressionism, Freud emerged, amazingly, as a figurative painter in the most traditional sense: "Expressionism is a translation from what is in life," Freud said. "Expressionism is exaggerated." In light of the stunning work displayed here, his negative opinion of the genre is earned. A necessity for art scholars and an absolute pleasure for the novice, this gorgeous collection of Freud's discomforting work is perfectly fitting in scope and heft. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

Lucian Freud, perhaps Britain's most famous living painter, is the subject of this sumptuous celebration of nearly seven decades of creative work. Having produced the still-essential catalog Lucian Freud (CH, Dec'02, 40-1964) accompanying the Tate Gallery's 2002 Freud retrospective, painter, critic, and curator Feaver here offers a lavish visual testament to an artist identified with incisive and often disturbing figure studies, the best of which are nudes or portraits (people "painted as they happen to be"), executed in a fluid style that challenges the tenets of conventional realism. The text consists of a concise essay on Freud's career, and transcripts of four illuminating interviews with the 85-year-old artist spanning the last 15 years. But this book's glory is evident in more than 360 outstanding (mostly color) plates, the majority of which are presented without comment. Also included is a sampling of Freud's most recent work. A short bibliography is included, but no endnotes or index. Although Feaver's earlier book has less than half as many illustrations, its documented text, chronology section, and extensive bibliography continue to make it an invaluable scholarly resource. Yet this latest effort will be useful as a sweeping visual appreciation of a painter of major importance. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. W. S. Rodner Tidewater Community College